Economy is another thing we recommend. This means saving all you can above and beyond what is needful for you to live upon. Don’t spend your money foolishly. Don’t spend it on rum or tobacco. Don’t gamble it away. Don’t buy expensive clothes or rich food. Some poor people, when they get a little money, think they may spend it in a frolic. All this is bad, and brings a man or a family very soon to want.
We don’t wish you to be stingy, nor like one who hates to spend a penny even for what is necessary. This is not what we mean. But take care of your wages. Make them go as far as you can in supporting yourself and family; and if there is any over, lay it up against a time of need. Only don’t waste it; for the Bible makes the waster and the slothful man brothers. “He also that is slothful in his work, is brother to him that is a great waster.”
SOBRIETY.
Sobriety is another habit or virtue we hope you will observe. Rum is the ruin of thousands. Keep clear of it, or it will ruin you. Soul and body die under its ravages. A drunkard is worse than a beast. Look at the drunkard’s home—or rather, dwelling; home is too sacred a word—and see how desolate and dreary and wretched it is. The Bible says, “Drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom of God;” so that they are miserable here, and more miserable hereafter and for ever.
HONESTY.
Honesty is all-important. “Thou shalt not steal” is one of God’s commandments. When you were in slavery you may have thought that you had a right to take from your master what you could get hold of, and hesitated only from the fear of being found out. Even some slaves who call themselves pious, have thought it was not wrong to take from the master’s crib whatever they could lay their hands upon. But if they had read the Bible, they would have seen how wrong it was. The apostle Paul, writing to the bondmen in his day, says they must “not purloin;” which means, they must not steal even a little thing from their masters, nor from anybody else.
If then any of you have fallen into this wicked habit, stop it at once. Besides, if you steal, the law will seize upon you, and you may have to go to prison, or suffer some worse punishment. You are now under law, and must be an honest keeper of the law.
LYING.
Be truthful. Some have said that lying is universally practised among the slaves—that they seem to think it is no sin, or if it be a sin, that it is a very little one. If this be so, then we urge you to get your minds at once set right in this matter. Lying is a sin, and a great sin. God has said, “Thou shalt not bear false witness,” and that forbids lying of all kinds. He says too, “Lie not one to another.” And still more, he says, “Liars shall have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone.” He is a God of truth, and he commands us all to “speak the truth in love.”