"We've no abiding city here:
This may distress the worldling's mind,
But should not cost the saint a tear,
Who hopes a better rest to find."
Kelly.
"I want to better myself!" How often we hear those words. A man has a very comfortable place, he has a kind master, a good home, pleasant companions, and yet he throws up everything and makes a fresh start in a new place, and all because he says he wants to better himself. Now I am not going to say one word against a man's trying to better himself. Not only is there no harm in it, but it is everybody's duty to try and do so as far as he can. But I hope to shew you, before you put down this book, that there is more than one way of bettering yourself; that it is quite possible to change your place, and to get more money by the change, and yet not to better yourself at all. Do try, first of all, to get out of your head the idea that money is the great thing. It is not. It is, of course, necessary to have money, but it is not good for any body to have too much. You generally find that an increase of wages means fresh disappointment, while if a man has just enough to live on he learns to be content. Oh! I know it is the same with all classes. The rich are quite as bad as the poor; nobody ever has enough.
Now undoubtedly the first thing we ought to look out for, though very few do so, when trying to better ourselves, is a greater opportunity of practising our religion. Ask yourself the question, "In changing my village, am I likely to be any nearer to my God? Shall I read my Bible more often? Shall I get more time for prayer?" Be sure that the time thus spent in the service and worship of Almighty God will not be wasted, for He will make it good.
Again, another question to ask is, "Shall I find as comfortable a home, and as nice companions, as I have here?" For, I trust, we all know the influence companions have upon each other. Man was never made to be alone always, and therefore it is most necessary that his companions should be good and pleasant men. And who can rightly estimate the value of a good home. A place to which a man can go at night, instead of the public-house. A place to which the angels love to come, and bring down stores of happiness from the presence of God.
And then there is one way more in which a man may better himself; and that is what most people put first instead of last on the list; I mean, by money.
Your wages may not be sufficiently high, and you may know of a place where they are higher. But don't be deceived by the pay given for work being higher, for other things may be higher too. For instance, in some country places the wages are twelve shillings a week, while in London they may be one pound. But in London, clothes are dearer, and you would want more of them. Lodgings are dearer and harder to get, and, reader, people are harder too!
But perhaps you will say, "How is it that so many men leave their work in a place to better themselves, and return without having bettered themselves at all?" The answer to that question is plain and simple enough. They thought it was only a question of money, and they looked no further, and so failed. But if you really wish to better yourself, ask yourself the questions I have asked above, and don't be satisfied until you get an answer. Ask God to help you to better yourself, and He certainly will help you to do so. If He sees it would be good for you, He will allow you to better yourself in this world; and if not, then He will take you away, in His own good time, that you may better yourself in the world to come.
MASTERS AND MEN.
"God has given each his station,
Some have riches and high place,
Some have lowly homes and labour,
All may have His precious grace.
And God loveth all His children,
Rich and poor, and high and low,
And they all shall meet in heaven,
Who have served Him here below."
Mrs. Alexander.
Now I want to say a few plain words about the relations of masters and men to each other. In these days of unhappy differences between them, days of constant strikes and lock-outs, it is surely not out of place to say a few words in the interests of peace. There have no doubt been faults on the side of the masters, and no doubt faults too on that of the men. All alike are human, and as such are open to make mistakes, and very often the mistakes they make are difficult to correct. There is no doubt that the old spirit of familiar intercourse between masters and men has passed away. Days when the master was indeed a father to his people, and when all his workmen loved him, and honoured him as such. Those days and that spirit have gone from amongst us. In the country among the farmers we have a different class of men altogether. In towns the employers of labour are different too. The labouring class have changed and are changing still. Working men in the country change their work much oftener than they used to. But there are certain golden rules which, if carefully followed in spite of all changes, may still be of use to masters and men. And, first, there is the grand old rule of "give and take" (the bear and forbear of scripture); without this no society can hold together, no two classes can live together in unity. Masters must always give their men the benefit of a doubt in all cases, and the men on their part must always be ready to acknowledge that their master wishes to act justly and fairly towards them.