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SHORT STUDIES IN ETHICS

_AN ELEMENTARY TEXT-BOOK FOR SCHOOLS_

BY

REV. J. O. MILLER, M.A.,

_Principal of Bishop Ridley College_

TORONTO:
THE BRYANT PRESS
1895


Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the office of
the Minister of Agriculture, by REV. J. O. MILLER, M.A., St. Catharines,
Canada.




TABLE OF CONTENTS


    I. DUTY                 7

   II. OBEDIENCE           15

  III. TRUTHFULNESS        19

   IV. COURAGE             24

    V. PURITY              30

   VI. UNSELFISHNESS       35

  VII. HONESTY             40

 VIII. FAITHFULNESS        45

   IX. PROFANITY           50

    X. JUSTICE             54

   XI. BENEVOLENCE         59

  XII. AMBITION            63

 XIII. PATRIOTISM          68

  XIV. BODILY EXERCISE     72

   XV. HABIT               77

  XVI. INDUSTRY            82

 XVII. SELF-CONTROL        88

XVIII. SELF-RELIANCE       91

  XIX. FRIENDSHIP          95

   XX. GENTLEMANLINESS    100

  XXI. COURTESY           105

 XXII. REPENTANCE         110

XXIII. CHARACTER          115

 XXIV. CONSCIENCE         120




PREFACE


This little book has grown out of periodical addresses to my own pupils.
An experience of over ten years has convinced me of the necessity of
teaching systematically the fundamental principles of Morality. The
scarcity of books suitable as elementary texts is a sufficient proof
that the subject is neglected in our schools. It cannot be right that
children should be left to master so wide a subject from incidental
instruction and from example.

I should be sorry if any one thought, from glancing at the topics I have
treated, that I seemed content to put lessons in practical Morality in
place of instruction in the Scriptures and definite religious teaching.
Nothing can take the place of the Scriptures. But I feel convinced that
these two aspects of Truth must go hand in hand. The young mind requires
the truth to be presented to it from all sides, and nothing appeals to
it so strongly as a modern example.

My own idea as to the use of such a book as this is that it should
supplement Bible instruction. The lessons are short enough to be taught
in half an hour. If one topic is taken up each week, and thoroughly
explained, and enlarged on by fresh examples from current life and
history, the whole book can be easily mastered in the school year, and
leave ample time for review and examination. If it should prove helpful
to other teachers, my labour will be amply rewarded.

_Bishop Ridley College, St. Catharines,
Feb. 28th, 1895._


     [Greek: Megas gar ho agon, megas, ouch hosos dokei, to chreston e
     kakon genesthai.]
     --_Plato._




No. I.

DUTY

+Duty is something which is due, and which, therefore, ought to be paid
or performed. It is something owed by everybody, to God, to self, or to
others.+


No other word is more disliked by the slothful than the word Duty. The
mention of the word itself causes weariness to a boy or man of that
kind. We can only get to like the word and the thing itself by
accustoming ourselves to perform it regularly, a little at a time. A boy
or girl with a fine ear and a natural talent for music hates, at first,
the daily practising and the uninteresting lessons; but, as soon as the
difficulties are mastered, playing an instrument becomes a delight.
Duty, in itself, is not a distasteful thing; it is because we hate
anything which gives us trouble that it seems unbearable. We can teach
ourselves to like taking pains.

Duty is, in one sense, the great law which governs the universe. The
planets revolving about the sun, the moon encircling the earth, even the
erratic comets, in fulfilling the laws of their being, perform the
duties which they are set. So, too, the plants and animals of the lower
creation obey the laws under which they live. Even of inanimate things,
pieces of human mechanism, may this be said. The pendulum of the clock
will tick until it is worn out, if it receive the care necessary for its
work. We see what wonderful things a machine can be made to do for man
in Edison's marvellous inventions of the kinetoscope and the
kinetograph.

Human duties differ from those of the lower creation and of the
inanimate world in this, that in the latter the duties are performed by
virtue of the great law of necessity, whereas man is free. That is what
makes human duties moral--that is where the _ought_ comes in. If we love
idleness, and most of us do at first, we naturally hate the idea of
Duty. If we give way to our feelings and desires, we shall only hate
Duty more intensely, and we are in danger of becoming not much better
than the brutes around us; in fact, we are giving way to the brute part
of our nature. Human nature differs from brute nature in having a
Conscience, which continually whispers in our hearts, "I must not," and
"I ought." It is our first duty to listen to Conscience.

The longer we practise doing duties the easier they become. A great man
once said: "A man shall carry a bucket of water on his head and be very
tired with the burden; but that same man, when he dives into the sea,
shall have the weight of a thousand buckets on his head without
perceiving their weight, because he is in the element, and it entirely
surrounds him." After running two miles for the first time, a boy feels
great stiffness, but after he has done it twenty times he feels nothing
but the pleasure of good health arising from pleasant exercise. In the
same way, he translates a single sentence in his Latin grammar with
great difficulty at first, but when he can translate Caesar's campaigns
without trouble the task becomes a delight.

Most people think they are entitled to great credit for doing their
Duty, and even to reward. If some one owes you a dollar, is he entitled
to a reward for repaying you? Is he entitled to any special credit? If a
father sees his son drowning and jumps into the water to rescue him, is
he entitled to any special credit, as a matter of right? Duty is
something _due_; therefore, it is a debt. "When ye have done all the
things that are commanded you, say, We are all bondservants; we have
done that which it was our duty to do."

(1) Duty is something owing to ourselves. Character is made up of
duties, and by our character we must stand or fall. We owe it to
ourselves to take the greatest care of our bodies. They should be
cleansed and exercised every day of our lives. Many a man, who would
feel outraged if his favourite horse were not thoroughly groomed and
otherwise cared for daily, neglects his own body, which needs "grooming"
quite as much as that of the horse. We owe it to ourselves to be careful
as to what we eat, and as to the right quantity. If we give a dog too
much meat or a horse too much grain, we know the result. We are not so
careful about ourselves as about our animals.

We owe it to ourselves to be true in all things. "First to thine own
self be true," says the great poet. We owe it to ourselves to be honest
in the very smallest things as well as in the great; to be afraid of
nothing except evil; to be clean in our thoughts and words; to be
modest; to be kind; to be gentle to the weak; to be generous; to be
charitable; to be modest about ourselves; to be temperate.

(2) Duty is something owing to others. We owe our parents a return for
their love and care for us at a time when we should have perished
without it. The return that is due them is that we should be a credit to
them instead of a disgrace, so that the world may say, "Those parents
have reason to be proud of their children." God has said: "Honour thy
father and thy mother." We owe it to them to be diligent in our
lessons, so that we may prepare to earn our own living, and not to be
dependent upon them all our days. A boy may say: "I am not going to
bother my head about this work. My father is rich, and I shall never
have to work unless I like." A few years hence, men will say: "Look at
that idle fellow! He is a disgrace to his parents. He is fit for
nothing; he is going to the bad already."

We owe it to others to owe them nothing. "Owe no man anything." It is
our duty to pay every debt in full, at the earliest moment possible. We
owe it to others to keep as sacred every confidence reposed in us. We
owe it to others to say no evil of them. _De mortuis nil nisi bonum_ was
a proverb of the Romans. It is wiser to speak evil of no one at all.


     "He slandereth not with his tongue,
     Nor doeth evil to his friend,
     Nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour."


(3) Duty is something owing to one's country. The names of the patriots
will be the last to die from men's memories. Every man owes to his
country his name, his influence, his strenuous labour, his liberty, his
life itself, should that be needed. When Nelson, on the day of
Trafalgar, gave to his ships the signal, "England expects every man to
do his duty," he spoke for all nations, in all ages, under all
circumstances. When Pompey's friends tried to dissuade him from setting
sail for Rome in a storm, telling him that he did so at the peril of his
life, he said, "It is necessary for me to go, it is not necessary for me
to live." Perhaps the greatest example of patriotism shown in a love of
Duty of modern times is that of Wellington. His greatness lay in doing
thoroughly every duty that came in his way. For that he would sacrifice
everything else. Late in his life he was content to suffer a temporary
loss of popularity through devotion to what he believed to be a duty. He
was even mobbed in the streets of London, and had his windows smashed
while his wife lay dead in the house. The great motive power that
underlay his whole career was whole-hearted devotion to Duty. He himself
said that Duty was his watchword. "There is little or nothing in this
life worth living for," said he; "but we can all of us go straight
forward and do our duty." Nelson's last words were: "I have done my
duty; I praise God for it."

Some years ago a troop-ship called the _Birkenhead_ was wrecked off the
coast of Africa. The officers and men saw the women and children safely
into the boats, which sufficed for them alone. Those brave soldiers and
sailors fired a salute as the ship went down, and thus cheerfully gave
up their lives to the watery grave. Upon which a great writer said:
"Goodness, Duty, Sacrifice--these are the qualities that England
honours. She knows how to teach her sons to sink like men amidst sharks
and billows, as if Duty were the most natural thing in the world."

(4) Duty is something owing to God. The highest act of duty is to
acknowledge that we owe everything to God, except evil. We owe our lives
to God, for from Him they came. We owe it to God that man is a human
being, and not merely a higher sort of lower animal. God "breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living _soul_." We owe
to God all that we have, and especially all happiness that we enjoy. It
is from Him that comes all the love that enters into our lives. He is
the great source of love to the human race. That is why we call Him our
Father; He is the personification of the love of which our earthly
parents' love is an example. We owe to God gratitude for His love to us,
manifested at every step of our lives, and we ought not merely to feel
that gratitude, but also to express it to Him daily. It is our duty,
therefore, to pray.

The highest form of prayer is that God's will may be done in our lives.
If we are sincere in that, and pray it with our hearts, and not merely
with our lips, it will be found sufficient to cover every request that
we can make, because our supreme duty is to do God's will in every act
and desire of life. Arising out of that prayer come the principal duties
of life, viz., thankfulness for God's goodness to us, the fight against
evil in every form, the showing to others by example how God's will may
be done, and, lastly, perfect trust in God in every circumstance of
life.




No. II.

OBEDIENCE

+Obedience is doing promptly and cheerfully what is commanded by those in
authority over us.+


Obedience is the first great law of life. No nation could continue to
exist if its citizens were not law-abiding. The most highly civilized
nations are those whose citizens yield loyal Obedience to the laws, and
strive to make all men obey them. Every society has its rules which the
members agree to obey, and it can only exist so long as that obedience
is observed voluntarily and faithfully. No army could be successful
against the enemy if the soldiers did not obey their officers.
Unquestioning obedience to the commands of the captain is necessary for
the safety of the ship and of the lives of the passengers. Those who are
employed in business must obey the instructions of their employers if
the business is to succeed. The first lesson that a schoolboy is set to
learn is the lesson of Obedience. What happiness could there be in our
homes if the children did not obey their parents?

The greatest part of life is Conduct, and Conduct can only be attained
by practising Obedience. The little child learns it from its mother, the
boy from his father, and from his master at school. The young man must
practise it at college, or at business. The older man continues to obey
some one all through his life. If he wish to govern others, he must
first obey himself. If he will not obey himself, he cannot rule others.
There is only One who is above Obedience--that is God.

At the battle of Balaklava, a small brigade of cavalry was ordered to
attack an immensely strong battery. The order was a mistake, as every
one knew that such an attempt would mean certain death. Yet the officer
commanding the cavalry did not hesitate for a moment to carry out the
orders, though he well knew what the result would be. Not a single
soldier among those six hundred refused to obey.


     "Theirs not to reason why;
     Theirs but to do and die."


And so the charge was made, and out of the six hundred only one-quarter
returned.

Boys sometimes think it a manly thing to question the orders given them,
and even to assert their independence by refusing to obey. Brave men
think it childish to stop to reason about the commands of those in
authority. The wisest men believe that disobedience is one of the
strongest signs of radically bad character. Experience teaches us that
disobedience will, in time, destroy the character altogether. He that
will not submit to authority must become, in time, not merely a useless,
but a dangerous, member of society.

Obedience, to be worth anything in building up conduct, must be given
_promptly and cheerfully_. Obedience which is tardy, or yielded through
fear, is not right Obedience at all. If a boy's father desires him to do
a piece of work which is not agreeable, or not very easy, there is often
a great temptation to put it off, and do other things first. A boy is
told to cut the grass when he comes home from school. He returns home,
and finds the afternoon warm, and the prospect of grass-cutting
uninviting, and so he first feeds his pigeons; and that reminds him that
he is very anxious to make them some new nest-boxes. The afternoon has
nearly gone when he, at length, drags himself unwillingly to the
lawn-mower; and he has barely finished the work, when he sees his father
coming in at the gate. Perhaps the edges of the grass plot have not been
clipped, as a finish to the work, because he did not begin soon enough.
That is a case of tardy Obedience--not real Obedience. The work was done
because the boy knew he must do it, and not because he loved to obey
his father. Real Obedience is _prompt_ Obedience.

Real Obedience is always cheerfully given. He who grumbles at an order,
and only does it through fear, is not obedient. A boy who will not
cheerfully give up a game, in order to carry out a command from one in
authority, must always be looked upon as one who is at heart
disobedient. If the officers of the cavalry, mentioned above, had chafed
under the order to put their lives in peril, and had sent the messenger
back to find out if they were really to make the attack, they would have
lost their claim to our admiration as truly brave men. If the troopers
had grumbled when the order was given to advance into the valley of
death, and had made the attack in a half-hearted way, they would never
have gained the undying glory that is theirs, and they would probably
have sacrificed the lives of the few who did at last return in safety.
Their Obedience gained them immortal fame because it was prompt and
cheerful.

He who would become a good citizen, and a really useful member of
society, can only do so by practising Obedience, with great patience,
and with all his heart, throughout the whole of his life. To attain
excellence in it, as in many other things, it must be begun very early
in life. Above all, it must be willingly given. Real Obedience is
prompt, cheerful, and from the heart.




No. III.

TRUTHFULNESS

+Truthfulness is speaking and acting in a perfectly straightforward way,
without any attempt to add to, or take from, the facts. Its opposite is
Lying or Deception.+


If Lying were the rule and Truthfulness the exception, society would
soon be destroyed. Men could not do business with each other if they
could not be trusted to speak the truth, and to keep faithfully a
promise once made. Instead of trusting, they would fear one another;
every time they were assured of anything they would doubt, and perhaps
suspect a trap. If all men resorted to lying, they would soon begin to
destroy each other, because it is an instinct of human nature to
preserve one's self from the attack of enemies. The liar is the enemy of
mankind. A great man was once asked: "Do the devils lie?" "No," was his
answer; "for then even hell could no longer exist."

(1) Regard for Truthfulness forbids us to tell, as truth, what we know
to be false. This is the worst form of lying. Only the most hardened
will lie deliberately; no one who has not had long practice in this vice
can tell a deliberate falsehood without despising himself. That can only
be done when the Conscience is at last asleep, and when the character
has become vicious.

(2) Another form of lying is telling, as truth, what we do not know to
be true. People often assert things which they cannot possibly know to
be true; for instance, the motives of other persons. There are also
things which are only probable, and of which we cannot be certain. To
state as absolutely true what we cannot know to be true is falsehood.
Again, there are things which are merely matters of opinion, and upon
which vastly different opinions may be held. If we would be strictly
truthful, we must be careful to state as true only what can be proved to
be facts.

(3) Another form of deceit is telling what may be true in fact, but
telling it in such a way as to convey a false impression. This may be
done by (_a_) exaggerating, or adding to, the facts; or (_b_) by
withholding some important part of the facts. Many a character has been
ruined by some enemy who wilfully overstated, or understated, facts of
the highest importance to the person's reputation. Many a man has ruined
his own character by allowing himself to acquire the habit of
exaggeration.

(4) Untruthfulness shows itself in other ways. A lie may be acted as
well as spoken. For example, when a boy allows himself to be praised for
some action he never performed and does not give the praise to the right
person, or at least disown it for himself, he acts a lie. The boy who
tries to make his master believe him to be obedient and studious when he
is not acts a lie. The boy who brings up as his own work an exercise
which he has cribbed, or in which he has been assisted, acts a lie.

(5) Concealment of the truth may be an unspoken lie. There is an old
Latin motto which says: "The suppression of the truth is the suggestion
of an untruth." By keeping back a necessary part of the truth one may
give a totally wrong impression of the facts, and this is just as much a
lie as absolute misstatement.

(6) Trickery, or underhand dealing of any kind, is a kind of lying. A
London merchant had business with another in a foreign country. The
latter asked the former to send out certain packages of goods marked
less than the real weight, so as to escape the customs duty. "I can't do
it," said the English merchant. "Very well," said the foreigner, "if
you won't, there are plenty of others who will, and I shall take my
business away from you"--which he did, causing the other firm a heavy
loss. A few years afterwards the foreigner wrote to the English
merchant: "Enclosed is a draft for so much, which please put to my
credit. I am sending my son to England to learn your way of business.
There is nobody in whom I have such confidence as I have in you. Will
you take him into your office and make him the same sort of man that you
are yourself?"

(7) Truthfulness lays upon us the most solemn obligation to keep our
promises, no matter how small may be the matter concerned. He who makes
a promise, not intending to keep it, is guilty of gross deception. In
making a promise it is our duty to express our _intention_ in the
plainest terms, and we must then consider ourselves under obligation to
carry out that intention faithfully and fully. When Bluecher was
hastening with his army over bad roads to the help of Wellington at the
battle of Waterloo, he encouraged his troops by calling out frequently,
"Forward, children, forward." "It is impossible; it can't be done," was
the answer. Again and again he urged them. "Children, we must get on;
you may say it can't be done, but it must be done! I have promised my
brother Wellington--_promised_, do you hear? You wouldn't have me _break
my word_!"

Lord Chesterfield once said: "It is truth that makes the success of the
gentleman." Those words should be taken to heart by every boy who wishes
to honour truth. Clarendon said of Falkland, one of the noblest and
purest of men, that he "was so severe an adorer of truth that he could
as easily have given himself leave to steal as to dissemble."
Shakespeare said:


     "This above all: to thine own self be true,
     And it must follow as the night the day
     Thou canst not then be false to any man."




No. IV.

COURAGE

+Courage is that disposition which enables us to meet danger or
difficulties firmly and without fear. There are two kinds of Courage:
Physical and Moral; and it has two aspects: Fearlessness and Boldness.+


The opposite of Courage is Cowardice, and no greater insult can be
offered a man than to call him a coward. Courage has always been looked
upon as one of the greatest virtues. Men may be willing to forfeit
purity, truth, and honour, but they cling to Courage to the very end.
Courage is a quality that boys love and respect, because it is a manly
virtue.

Physical Courage appeals most to the young. Nothing so excites their
admiration as a feat of daring. Physical Courage is a splendid thing, a
thing to be prized by every one. As a rule, it is something that every
one may possess a good share of. Physical Courage depends very largely
upon bodily vigour and strength of muscle. It is when we are nervous and
feel our limbs to be weak that our Courage is small. The boy or man who
exercises his muscles regularly is sure to store up a large amount of
physical Courage--enough, at least, to develop its first
stage--Fearlessness.

He who possesses a good constitution and a body whose strength he has
tested by repeated trials is not apt to turn tail at small fears, as are
the weak and delicate. He is able to present to difficulties, or, it may
be, to danger, a steadfast mind and a calm exterior. It is this sort of
Courage which makes the English soldier renowned in war. Had it not been
for the dogged persistence of his soldiers in holding their ground, in
spite of a hurricane of shot and shell, Wellington could never have held
Napoleon at bay at Waterloo. But, while this Fearlessness is much to be
admired, it is, after all, the least heroic form of Courage, because so
much of it is purely physical.

Fighting, as a test of Courage, is greatly overestimated. Experienced
soldiers tell us that it requires a good deal of Courage to go into
battle for the first time. "You look pale," said one officer to another,
as he came within range of the enemy's guns for the first time; "are you
afraid?" "Yes," answered the other; "if you were half as much afraid,
you would turn tail." But, with most soldiers, the feeling of fear soon
wears off, and where there is no fear there is not much trial of
Courage. The physical Courage that we all covet is that which leads a
man to do what others dare not. In 1892, a young clergyman, on a visit
to this country, was crossing the foot-bridge at Niagara Falls. When
about one-third of the way across, he saw a lady stepping up from the
carriage path to the sidewalk. She caught her toe against the edge,
stumbled forward, and fell through the open iron work at the side of the
bridge. She happened to be over the place where the broken rocks line
the edge of the water. In her swift descent, she struck her head against
one of the girders and was stunned; her body then turned over and fell
across another girder. At this moment the clergyman came up. Looking
over, he saw her body swaying gently, and evidently about to drop very
soon to the awful rocks, over two hundred feet below. Without a moment's
hesitation, he sprang out over the edge of the bridge, and, seizing one
of the iron rods that supported the girder, he slid down, and then crept
along the narrow girder till he reached the lady. Bracing himself with
immense difficulty, he kept her from plunging into the abyss until help
arrived, death beckoning to him from below, if he should lose his head
for a single moment. At length a rope was lowered to him, and they were
soon drawn up. That is a splendid example of physical Courage.

A higher type of Courage is that which enables us to endure pain.
Endurance is a rarer quality than dashing Fearlessness. It was said that
in the Franco-Prussian war, in 1870, the French soldiers were more
brilliant in the on-rush than the Prussians, but they lacked endurance,
and could not stand for long before artillery fire. This type of Courage
is best seen in bearing pain. When Epictetus was a slave, his master was
one day beating him. The poor slave said: "If you do not look out, you
will break my leg." Presently the bone snapped. "There," said Epictetus,
as _calmly_ as before, "I told you you would break it." One of the most
remarkable instances of the Courage of endurance is that of the defence
of Cawnpore, in the days of the Indian Mutiny, by a handful of English
troops, with their wives and children. For twenty-one days they endured
untold agonies of exposure by a never-ceasing fire, of hunger, of thirst
(sharp-shooters picking off any one who dared approach the single well
in the camp), of the midsummer sun, of sickness, and of the unutterable
foulness of their surroundings. The soldiers' wives showed even greater
endurance than the men. Women generally have greater courage than men in
the matter of bearing pain.

The highest type of Courage is that which is called Moral Courage, and
is exercised about matters of right and wrong as they affect us
individually. "It is shown by the man who pays his debts, who does
without when he cannot afford, who speaks his mind when necessary, but
who can be silent when it is better not to speak. It requires Moral
Courage to admit that we have been wrong." It requires Moral Courage to
stand being laughed at, although it is the sign of a wise man to be able
to enjoy a laugh at his own expense. It requires Moral Courage to run
the risk of losing one's popularity. Socrates was the greatest teacher
of ancient times, and he was beloved by many of his pupils; but because
his lofty teaching ran beyond the attainments and spirit of his age, he
was condemned to drink the deadly hemlock. He died calmly, even
joyfully, discoursing to his judges of the immortality of the soul.
Galileo was imprisoned when seventy years of age, and, probably,
tortured. He was content to suffer it, and refused to retract what he
had proved to be scientific truth.

When we are laughed at or threatened with persecution of any kind,
Courage bids us stand by our principles.


     "As the crackling of thorns under a pot,
     So is the laughter of a fool,"


said Solomon. It is the part of wisdom to disregard being laughed at.
When a boy lacks backbone, we say he is easily led, which means, easily
led wrong. How we pity such a boy!

The highest Courage is that which leads men to sacrifice their lives of
their own free will. Such was the courage of the soldiers and sailors of
the _Birkenhead_. In one of the battles of the Peninsular War, a
sergeant named Robert M'Quaide saw two French soldiers aim their muskets
against a very young officer, sixteen years old. M'Quaide pulled him
back behind him, saying: "You are too young, sir, to be killed," and
then fell dead, pierced by both balls.

Courage is a very different thing from Recklessness, or Foolhardiness.
An old proverb says: "Courage is the wisdom of manhood; foolhardiness
the folly of youth." And Carlyle said: "The courage that dares only die
is, on the whole, no sublime affair.... The Courage we desire and prize
is not the courage to die decently, but to live manfully."




No. V.

PURITY

+By Purity we mean that state of mind which is possessed by him who
fights against foul thoughts, drives them away, and who never allows
himself to perform an unclean action, or to use filthy, or obscene,
language.+


Purity involves three things: (1) Clean language, (2) clean thoughts,
(3) clean actions. They are put in this order because it generally
happens among the young that impurity begins with hearing unclean
language, and by imitating it. A little boy hearing others use foul
language soon begins to use it himself, though he may not know its real
meaning. Alas! it does not take long for him to learn the meaning of it
also