11. Honour to Masters.

Flattery of the lower orders is as base and mischievous as the flattering of kings. It is plain truth to tell, and wholesome to hear, that the great multitude of the poor, who are always with us, have a choice to make, an alternative dictated by nature, between misery joined to independence on the one hand, and comfort along with dependence on the other. In the present deplorable state of society a third alternative widely obtains, to wit, abject misery and dependence conjoined. But if ever the good time comes when employers as a body shall take up an attitude of fatherly piety toward their men ; shall abstain from gains, the outcome of paying a starvation wage ; shall see to the housing of their people, shall visit them, know them, and be proud of their bright, happy faces, as of the young olive-plants about their own table : if ever this shall come to pass, it can only be by the workman assuming a reciprocal attitude towards his employer, an attitude of respect, love, and loyalty, and a readiness to consider his master’s opinions—in fact, obedience without servility and deference short of blind worship. The employer cannot be a father, where the employed will not behave like a son. A grown-up son, if you like, and emancipated from paternal dominion, but a son for all that, mindful of the Commandment, “ Honour thy father.” The old song must no more be heard, “ I care for nobody,” with its doleful addition, “ and nobody cares for me.” The workman must put away at once the pride of independence and the grief of the castaway.¹

¹ In time, however, the dismissal of a workman may become so heavy a ban as to require a court of arbitration to pronounce it. In time too we may revert to the old Saxon rule, no man without a hlaford (lord) ; i.e., no labourer at a loose end, destitute of land and capital, and not belonging to any employer, or gild or gang of working men. Sudden spurts of work may then be met by contracting with the foremen of these gangs or gilds, or with other masters for the loan of their staff.