No. XVI. INDUSTRY
Industry is the fully formed habit of work. It is that which prevents us from wasting time, and strength, and the powers of mind. Its opposite is Indolence, or Laziness.
Work is a fundamental law of life. He who does not work must suffer, whether he be rich or poor, because man cannot break any law of nature without paying the penalty. If a man deliberately sin against nature, that is, against God, he may be forgiven, but he cannot escape the result, or, in other words, the punishment.
But all work is not Industry. If we are compelled to work against our will, that is not Industry. There must be the habit, and no habit can be fully formed without the mind's consent. Industry is work done with a will; not at odd moments, with wide spaces of idleness between, but regularly as a habit, which is as much the business of life as eating and sleeping.
In the history of mankind, Industry has been a far greater power than Genius. Genius, indeed, has been called "the power of taking pains"; that is, immense perseverance. The amount of good done to mankind by men of genius who have had no Industry is hardly worth counting up. Nearly all the world's great men have been men of great diligence. As Cicero said: "Diligence is the one virtue that includes all the rest." Solomon has the same thought: "The soul of the diligent shall be made fat." It is astonishing what a large number of great men have risen by their own industry to positions of the highest authority and influence. Faraday was the greatest chemist of modern times. His father was a village blacksmith, and he himself was first a newsboy, and then learnt the trade of bookbinding. He became interested in books through making their covers. Turner, the greatest modern landscape painter, was the son of a barber. He left school when he was thirteen; and from that time earned his own living.
Sir William Jones, the great oriental scholar, was a man of enormous Industry. Before he was twenty years old, he had mastered Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, and had made great progress in Arabic and Persian. He divided his day as follows:
"Seven hours to law, to soothing slumber seven,
Ten to the world allot, and all to heaven."
Hugh Miller, the great geologist, began life as a stonemason. Elihu Burritt, a blacksmith, mastered eighteen languages and twenty-two dialects. Such perseverance and diligence should make us feel ashamed of neglected opportunities.
The main thing to keep in mind about Industry is that it is a habit, and, like most good habits, somewhat difficult to acquire. A boy is given a piece of work by his father. He goes at it with great vigour; but, in a short time, his attention is attracted by his dog, or birds, and he leaves the work for something more pleasant; he is not Industrious. A boy begins his night lessons and works five minutes, and then remembers something that happened that afternoon at play; he returns to his book for five minutes more, and then thinks of the next half-holiday—and so on. Industry means concentration, and he has not learnt anything about that yet.
At the beginning of the lesson, a boy pays close attention; but he soon sees that his nails require attention, or his pencil a finer point, or the nearness of his neighbour suggests a small trick. Perhaps his head is heavy and requires to be held up by one hand, or the hero of the latest story persists in thrusting himself upon the mind, or he wishes he were out camping. Industry is attention; and he has not yet learned how to keep his mind on his work.
Most boys suffer from lack of power to pay attention for a considerable time. With some it is a disease arising from physical causes. If a boy has got into the habit of imagining impure things, his power of attention is in danger of being destroyed; if he has learned to practise secret vice, his brain is being destroyed. Some boys possess marvellous power of concentration. Macaulay's mother tells us that he wrote a fairly complete history of the world, occupying twelve pages, when he was seven years old. But the average boy needs to have his power of attention cultivated, as any other faculty is trained. He can do this, first, by striving to take an interest in everything that presents itself to his mind, no matter how dry; and, secondly, by practising attention. He can do this by keeping a watch open, and seeing how long he can work without thinking of outside things. There is no more notable example of industry in our own day than that of Edison. He is said to sleep only three or four hours in the twenty-four for months at a time. Those who live with him say that his Industry is the most remarkable thing about him. Some one once asked him how to succeed in life. His answer was: "Don't look at the clock!"
Attention produces the habit of Industry, that is, of wasting not a moment in idleness. Lord Nelson said that he attributed his success in life to a habit he formed of being fifteen minutes ahead of time for all his engagements. Imagine a boy being fifteen minutes ahead of time in rising, and at meals, lessons, and prayers! The habitual late comer is destroying his faculty for Industry. No one can afford to waste time; and there would be less time wasted if we could only remember that idleness is Suffering, if not now, then later on.
The great Cobbet said: "I learned grammar when I was a private soldier on the pay of sixpence a day. The edge of my berth was my seat; my knapsack was my bookcase; a bit of board on my lap was my writing table. I had no money for candles; in the winter time it was rarely that I could get any evening light but that of the fire, and only my turn at that."
Sir John Lubbock says: "Industry brings its own reward. Columbus discovered America while searching for a western passage to India; and, as Goethe pointed out, Saul found a kingdom while he was looking for his father's asses."
There is, for a boy, no motto grander than Luther's Nulla dies sine linea.
An old sun-dial in a churchyard in Scotland has these words engraved on it:
"I am a shadow,
So art thou;
I mark time,
Dost thou?"