[Greek: Megas gar ho agôn, megas, ouch hosos dokei, to chrêston ê kakon genesthai.]

No. I. DUTY

No other word is more disliked by the slothful than the word Duty. The mention of the word itself causes weariness to a boy or man of that kind. We can only get to like the word and the thing itself by accustoming ourselves to perform it regularly, a little at a time. A boy or girl with a fine ear and a natural talent for music hates, at first, the daily practising and the uninteresting lessons; but, as soon as the difficulties are mastered, playing an instrument becomes a delight. Duty, in itself, is not a distasteful thing; it is because we hate anything which gives us trouble that it seems unbearable. We can teach ourselves to like taking pains.

Duty is, in one sense, the great law which governs the universe. The planets revolving about the sun, the moon encircling the earth, even the erratic comets, in fulfilling the laws of their being, perform the duties which they are set. So, too, the plants and animals of the lower creation obey the laws under which they live. Even of inanimate things, pieces of human mechanism, may this be said. The pendulum of the clock will tick until it is worn out, if it receive the care necessary for its work. We see what wonderful things a machine can be made to do for man in Edison's marvellous inventions of the kinetoscope and the kinetograph.

Human duties differ from those of the lower creation and of the inanimate world in this, that in the latter the duties are performed by virtue of the great law of necessity, whereas man is free. That is what makes human duties moral—that is where the ought comes in. If we love idleness, and most of us do at first, we naturally hate the idea of Duty. If we give way to our feelings and desires, we shall only hate Duty more intensely, and we are in danger of becoming not much better than the brutes around us; in fact, we are giving way to the brute part of our nature. Human nature differs from brute nature in having a Conscience, which continually whispers in our hearts, "I must not," and "I ought." It is our first duty to listen to Conscience.

The longer we practise doing duties the easier they become. A great man once said: "A man shall carry a bucket of water on his head and be very tired with the burden; but that same man, when he dives into the sea, shall have the weight of a thousand buckets on his head without perceiving their weight, because he is in the element, and it entirely surrounds him." After running two miles for the first time, a boy feels great stiffness, but after he has done it twenty times he feels nothing but the pleasure of good health arising from pleasant exercise. In the same way, he translates a single sentence in his Latin grammar with great difficulty at first, but when he can translate Cæsar's campaigns without trouble the task becomes a delight.

Most people think they are entitled to great credit for doing their Duty, and even to reward. If some one owes you a dollar, is he entitled to a reward for repaying you? Is he entitled to any special credit? If a father sees his son drowning and jumps into the water to rescue him, is he entitled to any special credit, as a matter of right? Duty is something due; therefore, it is a debt. "When ye have done all the things that are commanded you, say, We are all bondservants; we have done that which it was our duty to do."

(1) Duty is something owing to ourselves. Character is made up of duties, and by our character we must stand or fall. We owe it to ourselves to take the greatest care of our bodies. They should be cleansed and exercised every day of our lives. Many a man, who would feel outraged if his favourite horse were not thoroughly groomed and otherwise cared for daily, neglects his own body, which needs "grooming" quite as much as that of the horse. We owe it to ourselves to be careful as to what we eat, and as to the right quantity. If we give a dog too much meat or a horse too much grain, we know the result. We are not so careful about ourselves as about our animals.

We owe it to ourselves to be true in all things. "First to thine own self be true," says the great poet. We owe it to ourselves to be honest in the very smallest things as well as in the great; to be afraid of nothing except evil; to be clean in our thoughts and words; to be modest; to be kind; to be gentle to the weak; to be generous; to be charitable; to be modest about ourselves; to be temperate.

(2) Duty is something owing to others. We owe our parents a return for their love and care for us at a time when we should have perished without it. The return that is due them is that we should be a credit to them instead of a disgrace, so that the world may say, "Those parents have reason to be proud of their children." God has said: "Honour thy father and thy mother." We owe it to them to be diligent in our lessons, so that we may prepare to earn our own living, and not to be dependent upon them all our days. A boy may say: "I am not going to bother my head about this work. My father is rich, and I shall never have to work unless I like." A few years hence, men will say: "Look at that idle fellow! He is a disgrace to his parents. He is fit for nothing; he is going to the bad already."

We owe it to others to owe them nothing. "Owe no man anything." It is our duty to pay every debt in full, at the earliest moment possible. We owe it to others to keep as sacred every confidence reposed in us. We owe it to others to say no evil of them. De mortuis nil nisi bonum was a proverb of the Romans. It is wiser to speak evil of no one at all.

(3) Duty is something owing to one's country. The names of the patriots will be the last to die from men's memories. Every man owes to his country his name, his influence, his strenuous labour, his liberty, his life itself, should that be needed. When Nelson, on the day of Trafalgar, gave to his ships the signal, "England expects every man to do his duty," he spoke for all nations, in all ages, under all circumstances. When Pompey's friends tried to dissuade him from setting sail for Rome in a storm, telling him that he did so at the peril of his life, he said, "It is necessary for me to go, it is not necessary for me to live." Perhaps the greatest example of patriotism shown in a love of Duty of modern times is that of Wellington. His greatness lay in doing thoroughly every duty that came in his way. For that he would sacrifice everything else. Late in his life he was content to suffer a temporary loss of popularity through devotion to what he believed to be a duty. He was even mobbed in the streets of London, and had his windows smashed while his wife lay dead in the house. The great motive power that underlay his whole career was whole-hearted devotion to Duty. He himself said that Duty was his watchword. "There is little or nothing in this life worth living for," said he; "but we can all of us go straight forward and do our duty." Nelson's last words were: "I have done my duty; I praise God for it."

Some years ago a troop-ship called the Birkenhead was wrecked off the coast of Africa. The officers and men saw