Topics of the Time (Classic Reprint) - Softcover

James Parton

Softcover

ISBN 10: 133132789X ISBN 13: 9781331327899

Publisher: Forgotten Books, 2020

Synopsis

Excerpt from Topics of the Time First, as to the wages he pays them. It is not necessary for him to give high salaries, because there are two precious commodities with which a government can reward its servants, over and above the money it pays them. One is honor; the other is safety. These two things, honor and safety, are what the virtuous portion of mankind strive for; and so precious are they, that when, after years of honest toil, a man has attained them, most of us join in the acclaim which pronounces his life successful. Now a government can bestow these upon every person whom it retains in its service. It can reasonably ask a man, in the full tide of a victorious career, to relinquish his vocation, and devote his life to the public service, for a comparatively small sum per annum, provided that sum per annum is made securely his until justly forfeited. It can do this, because a decent and secure maintenance, with the honor properly belonging to a government office, constitutes an entire materials success. No man can get any more material good than that, the simple reason that there is no more to get. Mr. Astor was right in saying that he derived from his estate only the few thousands a year which it cost him to live; but those few thousands are so securely his that he can be deprived of them only by his own fault or folly. A government can place its higher servants in a position more desirable even than his, since to his safety it can add honor. There is no honor in owning a thousand houses, but it is highly honorable, under a properly constituted government, to be the trusted and faithful servant of the public. Hence, on these terms, a government can usually have the choice of all the most suitable persons for any post. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology

About this edition

• Publisher: Forgotten Books
• Publication date: 2020
• ISBN 10: 133132789X
• ISBN 13: 9781331327899
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 409