bankers have a large sum of money to manage; the task is not an easy one. The principle of our currency law, is right; but in 1844, when started, there was nothing like the commerce or the deposit and banking business that now exists, and the time has come when it is imperative upon us to examine the system on which the great masses of money are manipulated, and we must have the will and courage to go to the root of the subject. No labour ought to daunt us, no prejudice should hinder us, no alarm at the convictions our inquiries may draw us to should make us recoil from their conclusions, as upon our commercial system our existence as a nation depends, and to maintain that commercial supremacy we must be sure that our currency system is not only safe and right, but the useful tool it should be, might be, would be, if we thoroughly grasped the subject. Money," how few understand it; and although all are so eager for it, yet how few know how to use it wisely, or understand what money is, its nature and qualities; how powerful a small amount of it is if judiciously used; how impotent, useless, worse than useless, to its possessor, if he does not understand its nature, and how to use the power in his hand. Adam Smith clearly demonstrated that labour is the one and only original source of the wealth of nations; but we still want a writer of equal calibre to clearly demonstrate to the people that the causes of, and remedies for, the distress and misery we are subjected to as a commercial nation from periodical "panics," arise from the people's ignorance of "money," what it can and what it cannot do, and its function as a medium of exchange. "Money," in its various forms of credit, bank notes, bills, cheques, is an enigma to the mass. To supply this information, so as to enable the people to comprehend business, and how to make money morally, would be one of the greatest and most beneficial reforms ever achieved. To men I say, be more in earnest; never et slip a golden moment; for "Fortune, the one goddess we all so strive to catch, turns a bald head to those to whom she has once presented her locks in front, and who have hesitated, and not taken hold." 66 Why wilt thou defer thy good purpose from day to day? Arise, and begin in this very instant, and say, Now is the time for doing, now is the time for striving, now is the fit time to amend myself." THOMAS A'KEMPIS. The essential point is to arouse greater earnestness, and a desire to begin at once; delay makes the danger. Now is the time for action. Be prompt; whatever is important enough to be necessary to be done ought to be done at once, and so got out of hand with as much dispatch as possible. The success of nearly all great men, in every trade or profession, may be traced to a spirit of promptitude; they put into practice the maxims the instincts of earnest men have bequeathed to us: "Never put off till to-morrow what can be done to-day," Strike while the iron is hot," "Make hay while the sun shines," "Hesitancy and loitering destroy earnestness." To succeed, you must have decision of character, be able to decide promptly, and be ever in advance of your opponents, comprehending and satisfying the wants of the times and age you live in. 66 The importance of a knowledge of what "money" is, is best illustrated by the case of OVEREND, GURNEY AND CO. Within ten years, to descend from the highest pinnacle, standing next to the Bank of England in London-no English firm so well known abroad; yet, by reckless misuse of the immense wealth they had in their hands, in six years they lost all their own and other people's money—a result solely attributable and traceable to their incapacity for, and ignorance of, the duties of their position; a result inevitable again, as also in similar cases to the City of Glasgow Bank, unless the people generally better understand what money is. Do not be alarmed. I am no rash innovator, do not want to proceed too fast, the last man to urge any change in so delicate a subject as "currency," but quite satisfied that the time has come when "Business," "Money," and kindred subjects must form part of every Englishman's education, and also convinced that if taken up at the right time, the subjects are of such interest that all would be eager to understand them. I ask for the earnest co-operation alike from the Pulpit, Platform, and School Board, to urge upon the people the importance for the future well-being of the nation, that all English youths be taught such subjects, and so, step by step, we may make men more thoughtful, better men of business-their actions the result of study and reflection. The end may be a long way off, but it is of the greatest importance that a beginning be made. Do not expect too much at first; carefully test every step as you advance, make every foothold sure; sustained under all difficulties with the conviction that every step onward, upward, must be, will be, of benefit to mankind. It is surprising how few people in this commercial metropolis devote their leisure time to the study of works on money, banking, finance, &c.; to literature so calculated to give them correct principles upon which to guide their actions and enlarge their mental views, by enabling them to get or take more comprehensive ideas on a matter that comes under their daily notice; such books being useful not only from the information they impart, but from the impressions they produce and the suggestions they prompt to the mind from the recollections they awaken when one has to decide the acts of one's daily life. Decision is a most essential quality, and the want of it may be attributed to one's ignorance of the subject one has to give a decision upon. Every man needs to be reminded of the importance of a steady adherence to sound principles. Books upon the subject we are engaged upon, by men who have thought and written thereon, act as a safety valve, and keep more particularly those whose time is fully occupied, business men, from going astray; such books strengthen, as it were, the impression in the mind of the necessity of firmness, and the wisdom of being guided in our conduct by a fixed line of action, and cause our life to be guided by knowledge instead of by caprice. It may be taken as an axiom that the more frequently the right path is pointed out to us the less likely are we to wander into those which are forbidden. We all err, and deviate more or less from the laws alike of God and man. My object will be achieved if I can get you to think that for every such error we have to pay the penalty— that as we sow so shall we reap; and to stimulate into activity your better resolves; by rousing your self-respect, to be better men; not to be disheartened by the past; but, feeling that you have paid the penalties the laws of God and man exact, you will begin afresh and manifest your repentance by your higher aims and earnest strenuous efforts; and to believe that God will be satisfied by the motives that control and guide your daily acts. There is good in the worst creature that ever lived, if the right means be adopted to bring it out; no one is lost whilst there lingers within him any sense of shame. "The little I have seen of the world teaches me to look upon the errors of others in sorrow, not in anger. When I take up the history of one heart that has sinned and suffered, and represent to myself the struggle and temptation it has passed through, the brief pulsations of joy, the feverish inquietude of hope and fear, the pressure of want, the desertion of friends, I would fain leave the soul of my fellow-man with Him from whose hand it came."—Longfellow. When we think of men's conduct in the pursuit of wealth, we need have present to our mind the sublime charity embodied in the above words, and to ask ourselves, Was money made for man, or man to make money? Can we sincerely believe that the lower was intended to rule over the higher faculties of man's nature? Is not the present life of the majority of us cursed by an abuse of the lower, instead of being blessed by the intelligent use of the higher faculties? And can we believe seriously that it is not possible, by earnest effort, to attain a purer aim in life, by developing the better impulses of our nature, and using faithfully and truly the nobler part of us; so that life might become to us a real wholesome pleasure the substance, instead of the shadowy substitute supplied by a social position founded on wealth only, and the hollow happiness based upon external show and glitter? I agree with Goethe, "But let a man thoroughly realize what he is, and he will soon rise to be what he should be." What is wanted is to make men more familiar with the best types of humanity; and greater effort to be made to exalt their conception of human nature. If they cannot all be great, they may be better than they are, and at the very least it is open to all men to be good and truthful, and faithful to duty, doing their work here intelligently, honestly, and thoroughly. "The best of every man's performance here Is to discharge the duties of his sphere." COWPER. |