Chapter XIX

THE HONEST MAN

In which it is broadly hinted
that all Rogues are not in Jail

sound the praises of honesty would be like

Tcarrying coals to Newcastle, since all pay homage

to the honest man.

A proverb, old as classic literature, was emphasized by Alexander Pope, when he sang:

A wit's a feather, and a chief's a rod;

An honest man's the noblest work of God.

The place of honesty among the graces of character is indicated by Shakespeare, when he makes Brutus say:

There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats,

For I am arm'd so strong in honesty

That they pass by me as the idle wind,
Which I respect not.

And Robert Burns, whose conscience was none too fine-edged for the business of life, joins in the common tribute thus:

A prince can mak' a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, and a' that;
But an honest man's aboon his might;
Gude faith, he mauna fa' that.
For a' that, and a' that,

Their dignities, and a' that,
The pith o' sense and pride o' worth
Are higher ranks than a' that.

But what do we mean by an honest man? We want a definition to begin with, and let it be as simple as possible. An honest man is one who pays his debts. That covers the whole case.

When Sir Charles Napier was leaving India with his army, he found that many of his officers and men were planning to steal a march on their creditors. He thereupon issued a general order, in which he stated that the defrauding of a shopkeeper was conduct unbecoming a gentleman, and that any of his soldiers. found guilty of so doing should be cashiered without ceremony. The proposition laid down in that general order will commend itself to all. For no man can be honorable who is not honest; and the root of honesty is to meet one's obligations to the last farthing.

In Westminster Abbey there are two memorials, which will serve to illustrate the matter in hand. One is the tablet of John Wesley, who lived in his country parish "content on forty pounds a year." His motto was, "Owe no man anything, save to love one another. He was buried without pomp or circumstance, and left only enough to furnish twenty shillings each to the bearers who carried him to his grave. The other is the tomb of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, who died

with honors thick upon him, but so deeply in debt that Parliament was constrained to vote an appropriation of forty thousand pounds to meet his outstanding obligations. We take our stand between those memorials and give our meed of praise to the poor itinerant who lived and died an honest man.

It will be seen that the definition, so simple apparently, is quite comprehensive, and it cuts deeper than we think. For when the matter of life's assets and liabilities is fully canvassed, it will appear that it is no easy matter to live and die with a clean balancesheet.

The question at the outset touches our relations with God. Are we debtors to God? Yes, by universal consent.

Is there any one who does not rejoice in the fact that he was made "but a little lower than the angels" and in the likeness of God? Is it nothing to stand erect, sensible of a divine birthright and of a divine inheritance? Is there no occasion for gratitude in the fact that I am able to dream dreams and see visions and, as Kepler said, "think God's thoughts after Him?" What do we owe in return for these things? The least possible recognition of God's goodness, thus far, is in keeping ourselves on friendly terms with Him. Here is the rationale of prayer, as Tennyson says:

For what are men better than sheep and goats
That nourish a blind life within the brain,
If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer?
For so the whole round world is every way
Bound with gold chains about the feet of God.

In God we live and move and have our being. We slept in His arms last night, cared for as tenderly as children in their mother's arms. He feeds us, clothes us, and continually looks after us.

Through all the various shifting scene

Of life's mistaken ill or good,

Thy hand, O Lord, conducts unseen

The beautiful vicissitude.

What shall we render unto Him for these loving kindnesses? Do they lay no obligation upon us? The least that we can do is to bend our knees in thanksgiving. To the beggar who, this morning, stretched out his hand saying, "I am hungry," I gave enough to buy himself a breakfast, and he said, "I thank you. Could he do less and bear the semblance of a man? What then of the man who never prays, who takes God's gifts without a word of recognition? Is he an honest man? Not so did the pagan Socrates think, who asked Euthydemus, "Did you never reflect how much care the gods have bestowed upon us?" "No, never, I assure you. "Go then to the temple and pondering on their gifts, bow down and prove thyself

a man.

We are debtors furthermore, to divine grace. It matters not, so far as the question at issue is concerned, whether a man has accepted the overtures of God's mercy or not; it still remains that provision has been made for his deliverance from sin. You may not have accepted Christ, my friend; that does not affect the fact that God gave his only-begotten Son to die in your behalf that you might be saved from sin.

Here is an immeasurable obligation laid upon every man. How shall we pay it? The answer is in the familiar hymn that contains the sum total of the philosophy of due-ty; that is, of what we owe to God:

Alas! and did my Savior bleed,
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?

Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And shut his glories in,

When God, the mighty Maker died,
For man, the creature's sin.

Thus might I hide my blushing face
While His dear cross appears:
Dissolve, my heart, in thankfulness,
And melt, mine eyes, to tears!

But drops of grief can ne'er repay
The debt of love I owe;

Here, Lord, I give myself away,
'Tis all that I can do.

It is a startling fact that men are so prone to overlook their obligations to God; for here is the very root of honesty. "Will a man rob God?" Shall we withhold from God that which is His honest due? Nay, that is out of the question if one would be an honest

man.

But the question touches, also, our relations with our fellow men. For no man liveth unto himself, and no man dieth unto himself. It would appear that the angels were created one by one; but men are of one