Business and Morals

An acquaintance of mine is very fond of talking about business and morals, as if the two things were quite separate, and could only be conjoined by infinite pressure. I never trust that man with any money. I sometimes trust him with a little good advice, but there I stop. Business and morality are one and the same thing; whenever they have been disjoined it has been by-an act of violence, and the rupture must be charged to the violators, and not to the necessity of the case. There is nothing in an honest business that could not be done on a Sunday, so far as its integrity is concerned, and is only not done on a Sunday because of the distinctive and absorbing claims of that day. That it is often hard to do business on high principles ought to be frankly admitted, for the encouragement of men who are operating under very difficult circumstances. There are temptations in business, no doubt, but will you point to any department of life that is free from assault? Leisure has its temptations: so has poverty, so has

wealth, so has religion itself. Do not, therefore, get

SEVERE TESTS. vi)

into the way of supposing that because you are a man of business you occupy a position of difficulty unknown to other classes of society. A minister has probably to encounter subtler and stronger temptations than a man of business. Tempted to flatter the rich, to run after popularity, to put fame above usefulness, to neglect the poor, to suppress practical doctrine, to connive at social inequalities, to study the tastes and whims of the upper strata of his people. These temptations are no trifles. They test a man’s quality very severely. But what would you think of me if I suggested that preachers should do their work on honest principles, and endeavour to combine preaching and morals? ‘This cannot be a matter of endeavour in any mechanical sense. The man himself must be good at heart, and then all he does will be virtuous and upright.

I am talking plainly about successful business, and I take it for granted that you want to succeed. You want to make the most of your position, and your purpose is right. There is an ambition that has about it something of the sacredness of an inspiration, and you do well to cultivate and satisfy it. Only take care what means you adopt. That is the vital point. There is no harm in being rich if the rich man’s spirit is right. You must, however, in resolving to be successful, clearly understand the true meaning of success. You must not satisfy yourself with a rough and ready definition, but must seriously inquire into the proper meaning. For example: John A. began with a small capital, and is now worth a hundred thousand pounds, but every man in his employment is a poor man to-day, and the employer alone is rich. I do not call that success. John B. began with the same capital, in the same business, in the same city, and is worth fifty thousand pounds, and every man in his employment has enough and to spare. That I do call wide and generous success. I want you, then, to act upon a broad conception of results, and to find no small portion of your success in the advancement and comfort of those around you. Never take an inferior view of your assistants. Make them partners in a better than technical sense. Trust, and you will be trusted. Appeal to honour, and you will be honoured. Then, when the balance is struck, you and they will have a common joy, and that common joy will inspire you for further effort.