This proverb in its literal sense applies to rents
in our others which may be easily mended at
first but, if they are left mended, grow bigger and bigger, until they
cannot be repaired without a great deal of sewing what is true of torn clothes
is true of boots. boxes houses, ships, walls, bridges, in a word, of everything
that needs mending, I may quote a striking illustration of the truth of the
proverb from my own observation. A beautiful pier was built at great expense by
Government many years ago on the stormy west coast of Scotland. To defend the harbour
of a fishing village. The great stones of which it was composed were bound
together by clamps of iron, and it looked as if it could defy the utmost fur’’
of the waves. Nevertheless, in one of the violent storms that Visit that iron
bound coast, at little damage was done to the most exposed part of the
structure. When I first saw the pier there was to be seen in it only a’ hole of
moderate extent, that could have been repaired without much labour. But somehow
the breach was left unmanned, and naturally grew bigger year by year until, on
the occasion of my last visit to the town, half of the pier had sunk in ruin
under the waves, and it was evident that to repair it would cost as much as the
building of a new pier.
The expediency of the stitch in time is
exemplified not only by the destruction of material fabrics, the rents in which
are neglected. But also in medicine, politics, and in intellectual and moral
education. Ho often has a doctor to tell his patient that, if he had been
consulted earlier he might have affected an easy cure, but that now more
drastic remedies must be employed. A literary man for instance, suffers from
indigestion due to overwork and want of exercise. A short holiday in the
country might restore him to good health if only he took it in time. But he has
important work to do and is averse to taking any rest before he has finished
it, so he goes on working until the symptoms become so threatening that he
finds himself compelled to consult a doctor. To his surprise he finds that
entire change of diet and absolute idleness for a long period of time are now
needed to cure a disease, the progress of which might have been arrested with
very little trouble at an earlier stage.
It is the same with the body politic. The best
politicians see in good time evils which, if allowed to go on unchecked, will
swell to alarming dimensions. Thus the just discontent felt by the people of
France on account of the privileges enjoyed by the clergy and nobles might have
been appeased by remedial legislation, but, as the cure was delayed, the
feeling of disaffection went on soldering and gathering force, until at last it could no longer be
extinguished and produced the horrors of the French Revolution. That no
revolution has taken place in England for the last two hundred years is due to
the fact that English Politicians have been willing to anticipate rebellion by
timely reforms.