MAKE GOOD THE WRONG 6. Every one that possesseth and retaineth that which is indeed another man's, and hath acquired no just title to it himself, must make restitution. 7. He that either by force, or fraud, or negligence, or any injustice, hath done wrong to another, is bound to make him a just compensation. DONE 8. Satisfaction must be made for slanders, lies, and defaming of others, by confessing the sin and unsaying what was said, not only as openly as it was spoken, but as far as it is since carried on by others, and as far as the reparation of thy neighbour's good name requireth, if thou art able. 9. Chastity cannot be restored, nor corrupted honour repaired; but where it can be done without a greater evil than the benefit will amount to, the two persons ought to join in marriage. 10. When really thou art bound to restitution or satisfaction, stick not at the cost or suffering, be it never so great, but be sure to deal faithfully with conscience. ONLY RESTITU TION CAN BRING INWARD PEACE 11. Else thou wilt keep a thorn in thy heart, which will smart and fester till it be out; and the ease of thy conscience will bear the charge of thy most costly restitution. 12. What a perplexed case are some men in, who have injured others so far as that all they have will scarce make them due satisfaction! 13. Especially public oppressors, who injure whole countries or communities; and unjust judges, who have done more wrong perhaps in one day or week than all their estates are worth! Repentance Demandeth Confession and Restitution 45 14. And unjust lawyers, who plead against a righteous cause; and false witnesses, who contribute to the wrong; and oppressing landlords, and deceitful tradesmen, who live by injuries! 15. And what satisfaction is to be made by an adulterer? In how sad a case are all these men! CHAPTER XV OUR DEEDS REACT UPON OUR OWN CHARACTER 1. Resist manfully; one habit overcometh another. 2. If thou wouldst make anything a habit, HABIT BY do it; if thou wouldst not make it a habit, do not do it. RESIST HABIT 3. Old inbred habits will make resistance, but by better habits they shall be entirely overcome. And that shall lend a kind of easiness To the next abstinence: the next more easy; 5. For use almost can change the stamp of nature, And master the devil, or throw him out With wondrous potency. 6. Every sin thou slayest, the spirit of that sin passes into thee, transformed into strength; every passion, not merely kept in abeyance by asceticism, but subdued by a higher impulse, is so much character. 7. From performing just actions a man becomes just; and from performing temperate ones, temperate; but without performing them no person would even be likely to become good. 8. The generality of men do not do these things, but taking refuge in words, they think that they are philosophers, and that in this manner they will become good men. 9. And what they do is like what sick people do, who listen attentively to their physicians, and then do not attend to the things which they prescribe. HABIT IS A LIVING 10. In the conduct of life habits count for more than maxims, because habit is a living maxim, become flesh and instinct. To reform one's maxims is nothing; it is but to change the title of the book. To learn new habits is everything, for it is to reach the substance of life. 11. Nor deem that acts heroic wait on chance: MAXIM The man's whole life preludes the single deed. 12. Our lives make a moral tradition for our individual selves, as the life of mankind at large makes a moral tradition for the race; and to have once acted greatly, seems a reason why we should always be noble. 13. Our acts our angels are, for good or ill, Our fatal shadows, that walk by us still. 14. Our deeds pursue us from afar, And what we have been makes us what we are. 15. Exercise every virtue and flee from every vice; for a virtue draws others after it, and a vice draws others after it; the reward of virtues is virtue, and the reward of vice is vice. CHAPTER XVI A HOLY PURPOSE PREDISPOSETH THE SOUL TO VIRTUE 1. Great souls are not those which have fewer passions and more virtue than common ones, but those A PURPOSE LIFE only which have greater aims. 2. Life without a plan, As useless as the moment it began, Serves merely as a soil for discontent To thrive in, an encumbrance ere half spent. 3. The man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder a waif, a nothing, a no-man. Have a purpose in life, if it is only to kill and divide and sell oxen well, but have a purpose: and having it, throw such strength of mind and muscle into thy work as has been given thee. 4. The beginning of all evil temptations is inconstancy of mind. For as a ship without a helm is tossed to and fro with the waves, so the man who is careless and apt to leave his purpose is many ways tempted. 5. Trust not to thy feeling, for whatever it be now, it will quickly be changed into another thing. 6. 'Tis the most difficult of tasks to keep Heights which the soul is competent to gain. |