I wonder whether you or I would be capable of it. I
would give much to feel that I could answer in the affirmative--that I
could take my stand on the spiritual plane of that unknown sailor.
ON SPENDTHRIFTS
While every one, I suppose, agrees that Lady Ida Sitwell richly deserves
her three months' imprisonment, there are many who will have a sneaking
pity for her. And that not because she is a woman of family who will suffer
peculiar tortures from prison life. On the contrary, I have no doubt that a
spell of imprisonment is just what she needs. In fact, it is what most of
us need, especially most of those who live a life of luxurious idleness. To
be compelled to get up early, to clean your cell, to wear plain clothes, to
live on plain food, to observe regular hours, and do regular duties--this
is no matter for tears, but for thankfulness. It is the sort of discipline
that we ought to undergo periodically for our spiritual and even bodily
health.
No, the sympathy that will be felt for Lady Ida is the sympathy which is
commonly felt for the spendthrift--for the person who, no matter what his
income, is congenitally incapable of making ends meet.
Pages:
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266