III. FELLOWSHIP IS PROMOTIVE OF COMFORT, WELL-BEING, AND HAPPINESS. "How can one be warm alone?" asks the Preacher. Every household, every congregation, every Christian society, is a proof that there is a spirit of mutual dependence wherever the will of the great Father and Savior of mankind is honored and obeyed. The more there is of brotherly love within the Church, the more effective will be the Church's work of benevolence and missionary aggression upon the ignorance and sin of the world.
IV. FELLOWSHIP IMPARTS STRENGTH, STABILITY, AND POWER OF RESISTANCE. TWO, placing themselves shoulder to shoulder, can withstand an onset before which one alone would fall. "The threefold cord is not quickly broken." It must be remembered that the work of religious men in this world is no child's play; there are forces of evil to resist, there is a warfare to be maintained. And in order to succeed, two things are needful: first, dependence upon God; and secondly, brotherhood with our comrades and fellow-soldiers in the holy war.—T.
Folly a worse evil than poverty.
This is no doubt a paradox. For one man who seeks to become wise, there are a hundred who desire and strive for riches. For one man who desires the friendship of the thoughtful and prudent, there are ten who cultivate the intimacy of the prosperous and luxurious. Still, men's judgment is fallible and often erroneous; and it is so in this particular.
I. WISDOM ENNOBLES YOUTH AND POVERTY. Age does not always bring wisdom, which is the gift of God, sometimes—as in the case of Solomon—conferred in early life. True excellence and honor are not attached to age and station. Wisdom, modesty, and trustworthiness may be found in lowly abodes and in youthful years. Character is the supreme test of what is admirable and good. A young man may be wise in the conduct of his own life, in the use of his own gifts and opportunities, in the choice of his own friends; he may be wise in his counsel offered to others, in the influence he exerts over others. And his wisdom may be shown in his contented acquiescence in the poverty of his condition and the obscurity of his station. He will not forget that the Lord of all, for our sakes, became poor, dwelt in a lowly home, wrought at a manual occupation, enjoyed few advantages of human education or of companionship with the great.
II. FOLLY DEGRADES AGE AND ROYALTY. In the natural order of things, knowledge and prudence should accompany advancing age. It is "years that bring the philosophic mind." In the natural order of thins, high station should call out the exercise of statesmanship, thoughtful wisdom, mature and weighty counsel. Where all these are absent, there may be outward greatness, splendor, luxury, empire, but true kingship there is not. There is no fool so conspicuously and pitiably foolish as the aged monarch who can neither give counsel himself nor accept it from the experienced and trustworthy. And the case is worse when his folly is apparent in the mismanagement of his own life. It may be questioned whether Solomon, in his youth, receiving in answer to prayer the gift of wisdom, and using it with serious sobriety, was not more to be admired than when, as a splendid but disappointed voluptuary, he enjoyed the revenues of provinces, dwelt in sumptuous palaces, and received the homage of distant potentates, but yet was corrupted by his own weaknesses into connivance at idolatry, and was unfaithful to the Lord to whose bounty he was indebted for all he possessed.
APPLICATION. This is a word of encouragement to thoughtful, pure-minded, and religious youth. The judgment of inspiration commends those who, in the flower of their age, by God's grace rise above the temptations to which they are exposed, and cherish that reverence toward the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom.—T.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON
Pessimism and Christian life.
It is a very significant fact that this pessimistic note (of the text) should be as much heard as it is in this land and in this age;—in this land, where the hard and heavy oppressions of which the writer of Ecclesiastes had to complain are comparatively unknown; in this age, when Christian truth is familiar to the highest and the lowest, is taught in every sanctuary and may Be read in every home. There are to be found
"Count o'er the joys thy life has seen,
Count o'er thy days from sorrow free;
But know, whatever thou hast been,
'Tis something better not to be."
There is an unfailing remedy for this wretched pessimism, and that is found in an earnest Christian life. No man who heartily and practically appropriates all that Christina truth offers him, and who lives a sincere and genuine Christian life, could cherish such a sentiment or employ such language as this. For the disciple of Jesus Christ who really loves and follows his Divine Master has—
I. COMFORT IN HIS SORROWS. He never has reason to complain that there is "no comforter." Even if human friends and earthly consolations be lacking, there is One who fulfils his word, "I will not leave you comfortless;" "I will come to you;" "I will send you another Comforter, even the Spirit of truth." Whether suffering from oppression, or from loss, or bereavement, or bodily distress, there are the "consolations which are in Jesus Christ;" there is the "God of all comfort" always near.
II. REST IN HIS HEART. That peace of mind, that rest of soul which is of simply incalculable worth (Matthew 11:28; Romans 5:1); a sacred, spiritual calm, which the world "cannot take away."
III. RESOURCES WHICH ARE UNFAILING. In the fellowship he has with God, in the elevated enjoyments of devotion, in the intercourse he has with holy and earnest souls like-minded with himself, he has sources of sacred joy, "springs that do not fail."
IV. THE SECRET OF HAPPINESS IN ALL HIS HUMBLEST LABOR. He does everything, even though he be a servant or even a slave, as "unto Christ the Lord;" and all drudgery is gone; life is filled with interest, and toil is crowned with dignity and nobleness.
V. JOY IN UNSELFISH SERVICE OF HIS KIND.
VI. HOPE IN DEATH.—C.
Practical wisdom in the conduct of life.
What shall we pursue—distinction or happiness? Shall we aim to be markedly successful, or to be quietly content? What shall be the goal we set before us?
I. THE FASCINATION OF SUCCESS. A great many men resolve to attain distinction in their sphere. They put forth "labor, skilful labor," inspired by feelings of rivalry; they are animated by the hope of surpassing their fellows, of rising above them in the reputation they achieve, in the style in which they live, in the income they earn, etc. There is very little that is profitable here.
1. It must necessarily be attended with a large amount of failure: where many run, "but one receiveth the prize."
2. The satisfaction of success is short-lived; it soon loses its keen relish, and becomes of small account.
3. It is a satisfaction of a very low order.
II. THE TEMPTATION TO INDOLENCE. Many men are content to go through life moving along a much lower level than their natural capacities, their educational advantages, and their social introductions fit them and entitle them to maintain. They crave quietude; they want to be free from the bustle, the worry, the burden of the strife of life; they prefer to have a very small share of worldly wealth, and to fill a very little space in the regard of their neighbors, if only they can be well left alone. "The sluggard foldeth his hands; yea, he eateth his meat" (Cox). There is a measure of sense in this; much is thereby avoided which it is desirable to shun. But, on the other hand, such a choice is ignoble; it is to decline the opportunity; it is to retreat from the battle; it is to leave the powers of our nature and the opportunities of our life idle and unemployed.
III. THE WISDOM OF THE WISE. This is:
1. To be contented with our lot; not to be dissatisfied because there are others above us in the trade or the profession in which we are engaged; not to be envious of those more successful than ourselves; to recognize the goodness of our Divine Father in making us what we are and giving us what we have.
2. To let our labors be inspired by high and elevating motives; to work with all our strength, because
Mutual service.
There is a measure of separateness, and even of loneliness, which is inseparable from human life. There are times and occasions when a man must determine for himself what choice he will make, what course he wilt pursue. Each human soul must "bear its own burden" in deciding what shall be its final attitude toward revealed truth; what shall be its abiding relation to God; whether it will accept or decline the crown of eternal life. Nevertheless, we thank God for human companionship; we rejoice greatly that he has so "fashioned our hearts alike," and so interwoven our human lives, that we can be much to one another, and do much for one another, as we go on our way. "Two are better than one." The union of hearts and lives means—
I. SHARING SUCCESS. "They have a good reward for their labor." If two men work apart, and succeed in their labor, each has his own separate satisfaction. But if they confide their hopes, and tell their triumphs, and share their joys together, each man has much more "reward for his labor" than if he strove apart. It is one of the blessings of earlier life that its victories are so much enhanced by their being shared with others; it is one of the detractions from later life that its successes are confined to so small a sphere.
II. RESTORATION. (Esther 4:10.) The falling of the solitary traveler in the unfrequented and dangerous path is a picture of the more serious and often fatal falling of the pilgrim in the path of life. To fall into disgrace, or (what is worse) into sin and evil habitude, and to have no true and loyal friend to stand by and to hold out the uplifting hand, to cover the shame with the mantle of his unspotted reputation, to lead back the erring soul with his strength and rectitude into the way of wisdom, into the kingdom of God—to such a man, in such necessity, the "woe" of the preacher may well be uttered.
III. ANIMATION. (Esther 4:11.) "In Syria the nights are often keen and frosty, and the heat of the day makes men more susceptible to the nightly cold. The sleeping-chambers, moreover, have only unglazed lattices, which let in the frosty air …. And therefore the natives huddle together for the sake of warmth. To lie alone was to lie shivering in the chill night air." Moreover, it may be said that to sleep in the cold is, in certain temperatures, to be in danger of losing life, while the warmth given by contact with life would preserve vitality. To be "alone" is to live a cold, cheerless, inanimate existence; to be warmed by human friendship, to be animated by contact with living men, is to have a measure, a fullness, of life not otherwise enjoyed.
IV. DEFENSE. (Esther 4:12.) "Our two travelers (see above), lying snug and warm on their common mat, buried in slumber, were very likely to be disturbed by thieves who had dug a hole into the barn or crept under the tent …. If one was thus aroused, he would call on his comrade for help" (Cox). It is not only the prowling thief against whom a man may defend his companion. By timely warning, by wise suggestion, by sound instruction, by faithful entreaty, by practical sympathy, we may so stand by one another, that we may save from the worst attacks of our most deadly spiritual enemies; thus we may save one another from falling into error, into unbelief, into vice, into shame and sorrow, "into the pit." We conclude, therefore:
1. That we should prize human friendship most highly, as that which furnishes us with the opportunity of highest service (see Isaiah 32:2).
2. That we should so choose our companions that we shall have from them the help we need in the trying hour.
3. That we should gain for ourselves the strength and succor of the Divine Friend.—C.
Esther 4:12 (latter part)
The threefold cord.
Many bonds of many kinds bind us in many ways. Of these some are hard and cruel, and these we have to break as best we can; the worst of them may be snapped when we strive with the help that comes from Heaven. But there are others which are neither hard nor cruel, but kind and beneficent, and these we should not shun, but gladly welcome. Such is the threefold cord which binds us to our God and to his service. It is composed of—
I. DUTY. To know, to reverence, to love, to serve God, is our supreme obligation, For we came forth from him; we are indebted to him for all that makes us what we are, owing all our faculties of every kind to his creative power. We have been sustained in being every moment by his Divine visitation; we have been enriched by him with everything we possess, our hearts and our lives owing to his generous kindness all their joys and all their blessings; it is in him that we live and move and have our being; we sum up all obligations, we touch the height and depth of exalted duty, when we say that "he is our God." Moreover, all this natural obligation is enhanced and multiplied manifold by all that he has done for us, and all that he has endured for in the salvation which is in Jesus Christ, his Son;
II. INTEREST. To know, to love, to serve God,—this is our highest and truest interest.
1. It means the possession of his Divine favor; and that surely is much, not to say everything, to us.
2. It constitutes our real, because our spiritual, well-being; it causes us thereby and therein to realize the ideal of our humanity; we are at our very best imaginable when we are in fellowship with God and are possessing his likeness.
3. It secures to us a happy life below, filled with hallowed contentment, and charged with sacred joy, while it conducts to a future which will be crowned with immortal glory.
III. AFFECTION. To live in the service of Jesus Christ is to act as our human relationships demand that we should act. It is to give the deepest and purest satisfaction to those from whom we have received the most self-denying love; it is also to lead those for whom we have the strongest affection in the way of wisdom, in the paths of honor, joy, eternal life.—C.
Circumstance and character.
This very obscure passage is thus rendered by Cox ('The Quest of the Chief Good'): "Happier is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king, who even yet has not learned to be admonished. For a prisoner may go from a prison to a throne, whilst a king may become a beggar in his own kingdom. I see all the living who walk under the sun flocking to the sociable youth who standeth up in his place; there is no end to the multitude of the people over whom he ruleth. Nevertheless, those who live after him will not rejoice in him; for even this is vanity and vexation of spirit." Thus read, we have a very clear meaning, and we are reminded of a very valuable lesson. We may learn—
I. THE VANITY OF TRUSTING IN CIRCUMSTANCE APART FROM CHARACTER. It is well enough to bear a royal name, to have a royal retinue, to move among royal surroundings. Old age may forget its infirmities in the midst of its rank, its honors, its luxuries. But when royalty is dissevered from wisdom, when it has not learned by experience, but has grown downwards rather than upwards, the outlook is poor enough. The foolish king is likely enough to be dethroned, and to "become a beggar in his own kingdom." An exalted position makes a man's follies seem larger than they are; and as they injuriously affect every one, they are likely to lead to universal condemnation and to painful penalty. It is of little use to be enjoying an enviable position if we have not character to maintain and ability to adorn it. The wheel of fortune will soon take to the bottom the man who is now rejoicing on the top of it.
II. THE NEEDLESSNESS OF DESPAIR IN THE DEPTH OF MISFORTUNE. Whilst the old and foolish king may decline and fall, the wise youth, who has been disregarded, will move on and up to honor and to power, and even the condemned prisoner may mount the throne. The history of men and of nations proves that nothing is impossible in the way of recovery and elevation. Man may "hope to rise" from the bottom, as he should "fear to fall' from the top of the scale. Let those who are honestly and conscientiously striving, though it may be with small recognition or recompense, hope to attain to the honor and the reward which are their due. Let those who have suffered saddest disappointment and defeat remember that men may rise from the very lowest estate even to the highest.
III. THE ONE UNFAILING SOURCE OF SATISFACTION. The old and foolish king may deserve to be dethroned, but he may retain his position until he dies; the wise youth may fail to reach the honors to which he is entitled; the innocent prisoner may languish in his dungeon even until death opens the door and releases him. There is no certainty in this world, where fortune is so fickle, and circumstance cannot be counted upon even by the most sagacious. But there is one thing on which we may reckon, and in which we may take refuge. To be upright in our heart, to be sound in our character, to be true and faithful in life—this is to be what is good; it is to enjoy that which is best—the favor of God and our own self-respect; it is to move toward that which is blessed—a heavily future.—C.
HOMILIES BY J. WILLCOCK
Oppression of man by his fellows.
Many different phases of human misery are depicted in this book, many different moods of depression recorded; some springing from the disquietude of the writer's mind, others from the disorders he witnessed in the world about him. Sensuous pleasure he had declared (Ecclesiastes 3:12, Ecclesiastes 3:13, Ecclesiastes 3:22) to be the only good for man, but now he finds that even that is not always to be secured. There are evils and miseries that afflict his fellows, against which he cannot shut his eyes. A vulgar sensualist might drown sorrow in the wine-cup, but he cannot, "His merriment is spoiled by the thought of the misery of others, and he can find nothing 'under the sun 'but violence and oppression. In utter despair, he pronounces the dead happier than the living" (Cheyne). If he does not actually deny the immortality of the soul, and is therefore without the consolation of believing that in a life to come the evils of the present may be reversed and compensated for, he ignores it as something of which we cannot be sure. We may see in this passage the germ of a higher character than is to be formed by the most elaborate self-culture; the spontaneous and deep compassion for the sufferings of others which the writer manifests tells us that a nobler emotion than the desire of personal enjoyment fills his mind. He tells us what he saw in his survey of society, and the feelings which were excited within him by the sight.
I. THE WIDESPREAD MISERY CAUSED BY INJUSTICE AND CRUELTY. (Esther 4:1.) His description has been only too frequently verified in one generation after another of the world's history.
"Man's inhumanity to man
Hakes countless thousands mourn."
The barbarities of savage life, the wars and crusades carried on in the name of religion, the cruelties perpetrated by despotic rulers to secure their thrones, the hardships of the slave, the pariah, and the down-trodden, fill out the picture suggested by the words, "I considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun." They all spring from the abuse of power (Esther 4:1), which might and should have been used for the protection and comfort of men. The husband and father, the king, the priest, the magistrate, are all invested with rights and authority of a greater or less extent over others, and the abuse of this power leads to hardships and suffering on the part of those subject to them which it is almost impossible to remedy. For many of the evils that may afflict a community a revolution may seem the only way of deliverance; and yet that in the vast majority of cases means, in the first instance, multiplying disorders and inflicting fresh sufferings. Anarchy is a worse evil than bad government, and the fact that this is so, is calculated to make the most ardent patriot hesitate before attempting to set wrong right with a strong hand.
II. THE FEELINGS EXCITED BY A CONTEMPLATION OF HUMAN MISERY. (Esther 4:2, Esther 4:3.) One good point in the character of the speaker we have already noticed, and that is that he cannot banish the thought of the distresses of others by attending to his own ease and self-enjoyment. He is not like the rich man in the parable, who fared sumptuously every day, and took no notice of the hungry, naked beggar covered with sores that lay at his gate (Luke 16:19-21). On the contrary, a deep compassion fills his heart at the thought of the oppressed who have no comforter, and the fact that he cannot deliver them or ameliorate their lot does not lead him to consider it unnecessary for him to distress himself about them; it rather tends to deepen the despondency he feels, and to make him think those happy who have done with life, and rest in the place where "the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary be at rest" (Job 3:17). Yea, better, he thinks, never to have been than to see the evil work that is done under the sun (Esther 4:3). The distress which the sight of the sufferings of the oppressed produces is unrelieved by any consolatory thought. The writer does not, as I have said, anticipate a future life in which the righteous are happy, and the wicked receive the due reward of their deeds; he does not invoke the Divine interposition on behalf of the oppressed in the present life, or speak of the salutary discipline of sufferings meekly borne. In short, we do not find here any light cast upon the problem of evil in a world governed by a God of infinite power, wisdom, and love, such as is given in other passages of Holy Scripture (Job, passim; Psalms 73:1-28.; Hebrews 12:5-11). But we may freely admit that the depth and intensity of feeling with which our author speaks of human misery is infinitely preferable to a superficial optimism founded, not upon Christian faith, but upon an imperfect appreciation of moral an-d spiritual truth, and generally accompanied by a selfish indifference to the welfare of others. A striking parallel to the thought in this passage is to be found in the teaching of Buddhism. The spectacle of miseries of old age, disease, and death, drove the Indian prince, Cakya Mouni, to find in Nirvana (annihilation, or unconscious existence) a solution of the great problem. But both are superseded by the teaching of Christ, who gives us to understand that "not to have been born" is not a blessing which the more spiritually minded might covet, but a state better only than that exceptional misery which is the doom of exceptional guilt (Matthew 26:24).—J.W.
Ambition and indolence.
The Preacher turns from the great, and to him insoluble, problems connected with the misery and suffering in which so many of the children of men are sunk. "His mood is still bitter; but it is no longer on the oppressions and cruelty of life that he fixes his eye, but on its littleness, its mutual jealousies, its greed, its strange reverses, its shams and hollowness. He puts on the garb of the satirist, and lashes the pettiness and the follies and the vain hurry of mankind" (Bradley). As it were, he turns from the evils which no foresight or effort could ward off, to those which spring from preventable causes.
I. RESTLESS AMBITION. (Esther 4:4.) Revised Version, "Then I saw all labor and every skilful work, that it cometh of a man's rivalry with his neighbor" (margin). The Preacher does not deny that labor and toil may be crowned with some measure of success, but he notices that the inspiring motive is in most cases an envious desire on the part of the worker to surpass his fellows. Hence he asserts that in general no lasting good is secured by the individual worker (Wright). The general community may benefit largely by the results achieved, the progress of civilization may be advanced by the competition of artist with artist, but without a moral gain being attained by those who have put forth all their strength and exerted to the utmost all their skill. They may still feel that their ideal is higher than their achievements; they may see with jealous resentment that their best work is surpassed by others. The poet Hesiod, in his 'Works and Days,' distinguishes between two kinds of rivalry—the one beneficent and provocative of honest enterprise, the other pernicious and provocative of discord. The former is like that alluded to here by the Preacher, and is the parent of healthy competition.
"Beneficent this better envy burns—
Thus emulous his wheel the potter turns,
The smith his anvil beats, the beggar throng
Industrious ply, the bards contend in song."
But our author, looking at the motive rather than the result of the work, brands as injurious the selfish ambition from which it may have sprung.
II. INDOLENCE. (Esther 4:5.) "The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh;' While there are some who fret and wear themselves out in endeavors to surpass their neighbors, others rust out in ignoble sloth. The hands of the busy artist are deftly used to shape and fashion the materials in which he works, and to embody the ideas or fancies conceived in his mind; the indolent fold their hands together, and make no attempt either to excel others or to provide a living for themselves. The one may, after all his toil, be doomed to failure and disappointment; the other most certainly dooms himself to want and misery. "He feeds upon his own flesh," and destroys himself. The sinfulness of indolence, and the punishment which it brings down upon itself, are plainly indicated in many parts of Holy Scripture (Proverbs 6:10, Proverbs 6:11; Proverbs 13:4; Proverbs 20:4; Matthew 25:26; 2 Thessalonians 3:10). But the special point of the reference to the vice here seems to be the contrast which it affords to that of feverish ambition. The two dispositions depicted are opposed to each other; both are blameworthy. It is foolish to seek to escape the evils of the one by incurring: those of the other. A middle way between them is the path of wisdom. This is taught us in Esther 4:6. Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit." The rivalry that consumes the strength, and leads almost inevitably to disappointment and vexation of spirit, is deprecated; so also, by implication, is the inactivity of the indolent. The "quietness "which refreshes the soul, and gives it contentment with a moderate competence, is not idleness, or the rest of sloth. It is rest after labor, which the ambitious will not allow themselves to take. The indolent do not enjoy it, their strength wastes away from want of exercise while those of moderate, chastened desires can both be diligent in business and mindful of their higher interests; they can labor assiduously without losing that tranquility of spirit and peace of mind which are essential to happiness in life.—J.W.
Friendship a gain in life.
A new thought dawns upon our author. In his observation of the different phases of human life, he notes much that is disappointing and unsatisfactory but he also perceives some alleviations of the evils by which man is harassed and disturbed. Amidst all his depreciation of the conditions under which we live, he admits positive blessings which it is our wisdom to discern and make the most of. Amongst these latter he counts friendship. It is a positive gain, by which the difficulties of life are diminished and its enjoyments increased. In Esther 4:8-12 he describes an isolated life wasted in fruitless, selfish toil, and dilates with something like enthusiasm upon the advantages of companionship. In order, I suppose, to make the contrast between the two states more vivid, he chooses a very pronounced case of solitariness—not that of a man merely isolated from his fellows, say living by himself on a desert island, but that of one utterly separate in spirit, a miser intent only on his own interests. We may call the passage a description of the evils of a solitary life and the value of friendship.
I. THE EVILS OF A SOLITARY LIFE. (Esther 4:7, Esther 4:8.) The picture is drawn with a very few touches, but it is remarkably distinct and vivid. It represents a "solitary, friendless money-maker—a Shylock without even a Jessica; an Isaac of York with his faithful Rebecca." He is alone, he has no companion, no relative or friend, he knows not who will succeed him in the possession of his heaped-up treasures; and yet he toils on with unremitting anxiety, from early in the morning till late at night, unwilling to lose a moment from his work as long as he can add anything to his gains. "There is no end of all his labor." The assiduity with which he at first applied himself to the task of accumulating riches distinguishes him to the end of life. At first, perhaps, he had to force himself to cultivate habits of industry and application, but now he cannot tear himself away from business. His habits rule him, and take away from him both the ability and the inclination to relax his labors and to enjoy the fruit of them. Have we not often seen instances of this folly in our own experience? Those who have lived a laborious life, and have been successful in their undertakings, toiling on to the very last, afflicted with an insatiable avarice, never satisfied with their riches, and only enjoying the mere consciousness of possessing them? Have we not noticed how such a man gets to be penurious and fretful and utterly unfeeling? He gathers in eagerly, and often unscrupulously, and gives out reluctantly and sparingly. He starves himself in the midst of abundance, grudges the most necessary expenses, and denies himself and those dependent upon him the commonest comforts. The misery he inflicts upon himself does not open his eyes to the folly of his conduct; he grows gradually callous to discomforts, and finds in the sordid gains which his parsimony secures an abundant compensation for all inconveniences. And not only does he doom himself to material discomfort and to intellectual impoverishment by setting his desires solely upon riches, but he degrades his moral and spiritual character. If he must keep all he has to himself, he must often ignore the just claims of others upon him; he must steel his heart against the appeals of the poor and needy, and. he must look with scorn and contempt upon all those who are generous and liberal in helping their fellows. And so we find such men gradually growing harsher and more unsympathetic, until it seems at last as if they regarded every one about them with suspicion, as seeking to wrest from their hands their hard-earned gains. And what is the pleasure of such a life? How is it such men do not say within themselves, "For whom do I labor, and bereave my- soul of good?" The folly of their conduct springs from two causes.
1. They forget that unremitting, fruitless toil is a curse. As a means to an end, toil is good, as an end in itself it is evil. It was never contemplated, even when man was innocent, that he should be idle. He was placed in the garden of Eden to dress and to keep it. But it is either his fault or his misfortune if he is all his life a slavish drudge. It may be that he is forced by the necessities of his position to labor incessantly and to the very end, to make a livelihood for himself and for those dependent upon him, but his condition is not an ideal one. If he could secure a little leisure and relaxation, it would be all the better for him in every sense of the word. And therefore for the miser to toil like a mere slave, when he might save himself the trouble, is an evidence of how blinded he is by the vice to which Be is addicted.
2. A second cause of the miser's folly is his ignoring the fact that riches have only value when made use of. The mere accumulation of them is not enough; they must be employed if they are to be of service. No real, healthy enjoyment of them is to be obtained by merely contemplating them and reckoning them up. Used in that way they only feed an unnatural and morbid appetite.