CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



societies, and those for suppressing intemperance 

 and immorality. No well-disposed citizen can 

 conscientiously abstain from giving his aid and 

 support to such objects. It is each one's duty to 

 try to leave the world a little better than he found 

 it. No one can say these are matters which do 

 not concern him. Suppose every one should say 

 so, and had said so from the beginning, society 

 would still be made up of barbarians. Every 

 good that is done in any community affects, 

 directly or indirectly, every member of it 



Masters and Servants. 



It is the duty of masters to cultivate the esteem 

 and affection of those whom circumstances have 

 placed under them. Servants have the same sort 

 of bones, muscles, heads, and hearts, the same 

 self-love, and the same sensibilities, as their em- 

 ployers. They may not be so refined, still they 

 have rights to be maintained, and must not be 

 tyrannised over merely because they are in an 

 inferior condition. They have as good a right to 

 be happy as those above them. If they behave 

 with propriety, and do their duty, they should be 

 spared when sick, advised and relieved when in 

 trouble, and be made as comfortable as circum- 

 stances will permit The commands given to them 

 should be plain, clear, uniform, and not contradic- 

 tory or capricious. They are not to be sneered at, 

 or commanded with virulence and reproach, but 

 mildly, and rather by request They are also to 

 be treated with uniform civility and kindness ; 

 but every approach to familiarity with them should 

 be avoided, if respect on both sides is to be pre- 

 served. It is always best to let servants know 

 what is their duty, and what is expected of them. 

 Much mischief is sometimes created by not attend- 

 ing to this rule. 



The duties of servants to masters are equally 

 clear. Their entering into servitude is a contract 

 which they engage to fulfil. They are bound to 

 execute all reasonable and proper orders in the 

 line of service in which they are engaged. But 

 besides this, they would consult their interests in 

 being generally obliging and willing to assist in 

 any kind of exigency. A seeming wish to please 

 an employer goes a great way to compensate for 

 deficiencies in ability. A civil, obliging turn is 

 indeed one of the chief virtues in a servant, and 

 is certain to secure the affection of masters and 

 mistresses. A strict attention to an employer's 

 interest, regularity of habits, and perfect integrity 

 both in speech and action, form the principal 

 qualifications of a servant. There is usually much 

 less actual dishonesty among servants than a 

 regardlessness of their masters' interests and time. 

 This is more the case with domestic than other 

 servants. 



The foregoing rules apply largely to the case of 

 employers and employed in the various branches 

 of manufacturing and trade industry. We hear a 

 good deal respecting the rights of labour or of 

 capital, but we do not hear so much respecting the 

 duties of either. If these duties were better under- 

 stood and practised, there would be fewer of those 

 unfortunate trade-disputes, known as 'strikes' or 

 'lock-outs,' which have so frequently proved in- 

 jurious to the social and industrial interests of this 

 country. Employers should not be too harsh or 

 exacting with their workmen, nor require them to 

 labour too long at one time, nor under conditions 



558 



unfavourable to health or personal safety. They 

 should always remember that the employed are 

 not mere machines, that they are human beings 

 with the same feelings and passions as themselves. 

 The employed should be equally considerate in 

 their dealings with their employers. Many work- 

 ing-men affect to regard employers as the natural 

 enemies of the employed ; but this is a grievous 

 mistake, for employers and employed are mutually 

 dependent upon each other, and whatever injures 

 the interests of one, injures the interests of the 

 other likewise. The employed have no right to 

 dictate the manner in which an employer shall 

 carry on his business, or the terms upon which he 

 shall engage his workmen. If they dislike the 

 conditions of employment offered by him, they are 

 at liberty to refuse to accept them. But they have 

 no right to prevent other workmen from accepting 

 them, any more than an employer has to prevent 

 workmen from engaging themselves to a rival 

 employer. Of course, wherever there are contracts 

 between employers and employed, they must be 

 faithfully observed on both sides, however un- 

 favourable or irksome the conditions may be found 

 by either. It is found that where working-men 

 are of sober, steady, and industrious habits, and 

 possess a fair amount of skill in their respective 

 occupations, they seldom remain long out of em- 

 ployment ; while employers who act fairly towards 

 their work-people, rarely experience any difficulty 

 in procuring a proper supply of the particular 

 kinds of labour required by them. 



DUTIES IN RELATION TO MARRIAGE. 



Marriage is recognised as a contract of a bind- 

 ing nature in all civilised nations. By some it is 

 considered, from its solemnity, to be of a sacred 

 character ; by others it is deemed only a civil 

 bond of connection. All, however, agree in hold- 

 ing it to be an irrevocable contract. The laws 

 of the land, those of nature, and the Divine law, 

 disclose the sentiments, the feelings, and the awful 

 sense of duty with which this undertaking should 

 be regarded. Yet it is frequently entered into 

 from motives highly reprehensible, and sometimes 

 with shocking thoughtlessness. It is from such 

 causes that we too frequently see this sacred 

 union, which should be the true source of the 

 highest human happiness, become that inexhaust- 

 ible fountain from which both parties are daily 

 and hourly compelled to drink, and from the same 

 cup, the bitterest waters. 



According to the present state of society, one of 

 the influential counteracting elements to marriage 

 is, or ought to be, a high degree of prudence. No 

 one ought to marry who cannot foresee that he 

 will be able to support the additional expenses 

 of a wife and family, and at the same time fulfil 

 his other necessary obligations. By good manage- 

 ment, these additional charges are not great, but 

 they amount to something, and he is worse than 

 an infidel who does not provide against them. 

 We are of belief that every industrious, active, and 

 sober man will find no serious obstacle in this 

 respect. It is from idleness, love of company, 

 and intemperance, not from simple expenditure on 

 family necessaries and comforts, that ruin and 

 poverty in the married life are produced. The 

 dread of encountering the expenses of a family, 

 though acting as a salutary check on imprudent 



