A handsaw is a good thing, but not to shave with
Charles Spurgeon · John Ploughman's Pictures; or, More of His Plain Talk for Plain People
BUT NOT TO SHAVE WITH.
OUR friend will cut more than he will
eat, and shave off something more
than hair, and then he will blame the saw.
His brains don't lie in his beard, nor yet in
(43)
44 JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S PICTURES.
the skull above it, or he would see that his
saw will only make sores. There's sense
in choosing your tools, for a pig's tail will
never make a good arrow, nor will his ear
make a silk purse. You can't catch rabbits
with drums, nor pigeons with plums. A
good thing is not good out of its place. It
is much the same with lads and girls ; you
can't put all boys to one trade, nor send
all girls to the same service. One chap will
make a London clerk, and another will do
better to plough, and sow, and reap, and
mow, and be a farmer's boy. It's no use
forcing them ; a snail will never run a race,
nor a mouse drive a wagon.
" Send a boy to the well against his will,
The pitcher will break and the water spill."
With unwilling hounds it is hard to hunt
hares. To go against nature and inclina-
tion is to row against wind and tide. They
say you may praise a fool till you make him
useful : I don't know so much about that,
but I do know that if I get a bad knife
I generally cut my finger, and a blunt axe
is more trouble than profit. No, let me
shave with a razor if I shave at all, and
DON'T SHAVE WITH A HAXDSAIV. 45
do my work with the best tools I can
get.
Never set a man to work he is not fit for,
for he will never do it well. They say that
if pigs fly they always go with their tails
forward, and awkward workmen are much
the same. Nobody expects cows to catch
crows, or hens to wear hats. There's reason
in roasting eggs, and there should be reason
in choosing servants. Don't put a round
peg into a square hole, nor wind up your
watch with a cork-screw, nor set a tender-
hearted man to whip wife -beaters, nor a
bear to be a relieving-officer, nor a publican
to judge of the licensing laws. Get the
right man in the right place, and then all
goes as smooth as skates on ice ; but the
wrong man puts all awry, as the sow did
when she folded the linen.
It is a temptation to many to trust them
with money ; don't put them to take care
of it if you ever wish to see it again. Never
set a cat to watch cream, nor a pig to gather
peaches, for if the cream and the peaches
go a-missing you v/ill have yourself to
thank for it. It is a sin to put people
where they are likely to sin. If you be-
46 JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S PICTURES.
lieve the old saying, that when you set a
beggar on horseback he will ride to the
devil, don't let him have a horse of yours.
If you want a thing well done do it your-
self, and pick your tools. It is true that
a man must row with such oars as he
has, but he should not use the boat-hook
for a paddle. Take not the tongs to poke
the fire, nor the poker to put on the coals.
A newspaper on Sunday is as much out
of place as a warming-pan on the first
of August, or a fan on a snowy day : the
Bible suits the Sabbath a deal better.
He wlio tries to make money by betting
uses a wrong tool, and is sure to cut his
fingers. As well hope to grow golden pip-
pins on the bottom of the sea as to make
gain among gamblers if you are an hon-
est man. Hard work and thrifty habits
are the right razor, gambling is a hand-
saw.
Some things want doing gently, and tell-
ing a man of his faults is one of them. You
would not fetch a hatchet to break open an
egg. r^or l^ill a fly oi^ your boy's fore-
head with a sledge-hammer, and so you
must not try to mend your neighbor's
DON'T SHAVE WITH A HANDSAW. 47
little fault by blowing- him up sky-high.
Never fire off a musket to kill a midge, and
don't raise a hue and cry about the half oi
nothing.
Do not throw away a saw because it is
not a razor, for it will serve your turn
another day, and cut your ham-bone if it
won't shave off your stubble. A whet-
stone, though it cannot cut, may sharpen a
knife that will. A match gives little light
itself, but it may light a candle to brighten
up the room. Use each thing and each
man according to common sense and you
will be uncommonly sensible. You don't
milk horses nor ride cows, and by the
same rule you must make of every man
what he is meant for, and the farm will be
as right as a trivet.
Everything has its use, but no one thing
is good for all purposes. The baby said,
" The cat crew and the cock rocked the
cradle," but old folks knew better : the
cat is the best at mousing and the cock at
rousing. That's for that, as salt is for her-
rings, and sugar for gooseberries, and Nan
for Nicholas. Don't choose your tools by
their looks, for that's best which does best.
48 JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S PICTURES.
A silver trowel lays very few bricks. You
cannot curry a horse with a tortoise-shell
comb, or fell oaks with a pen-knife, or
open oysters with a gold tooth-pick. Fine
is not so good as jit when work is to be
done. A good workman will get on pretty
well with a poor tool, and a brave soldier
never lacks a weapon : still, the best is
good enough for me, and John Plough-
man does not care to use a clumsy tool
because it looks pretty. Better ride on an
ass that carries you than on a steed which
throws you; it is far better to work with
an old-fashioned spade which suits your
hand than with a new-fangled invention you
don't understand.
In trying to do good to your fellow-men
the gospel is out of sight the best instru-
ment to work with. The new doctrine which
they call " modern thought " is nothing bet-
ter than a handsaw, and it won't work a bit.
This fine new nothing of a gospel would not
save a mouse, nor move the soul of a tom-
tit ; but the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ
is suited to man's need, and by God's grace
does its work famously. Let every preacher
and teacher keep to it, for they will never
DON'T SHAVE WITH A HANDSAW. 49
find a better. Try to win men with its lov-
ing words and precious promises, and there's
no fear of labor in vain. Some praise the
balm of Gilead, or man's morality ; many
try the Roman salve, or the oil of Baby-
lon ; and others use a cunning ointment
mixed by learned philosophers ; but for his
own soul's wounds, and for the hurts of
others, John Ploughman knows but one
cure, and that is given gratis by the good
Physician to all who ask for it. A humble
faith in Christ Jesus will soon bring you
this sovereign remedy. Use no other, for
no other is of use.