It is an instructive idea of Franklin, when he represents indulgences and luxuries as self-imposed taxes. The Government taxes are indeed heavy; "but we have many others, and much more grievous to some of us. We are taxed twice as much by our idleness, three times as much by our pride, and four times as much by our folly." This idea may be extended to rivalry, which is a costly tax. In the interview between Henry VIII. and Francis, at Calais, the nobility of both nations vied with each other in pomp and expense. Many of them involved themselves in great debts, and were not able, by the penury of their whole lives, to repair the vain splendour of a few days. It is a common observation that the expenses of the great sometimes consist in pomp and show rather than in convenience and true pleasure. Keeping up appearance is another tribute which people pay to society. It is often, in the felicitous words of Gibbon, an expensive effort to disguise their poverty. Social customs often involve in unnecessary expense. One of these has often been unseasonably oppressivethe cost of funerals. It is a curious historical fact that the moderate estate of Richard Cromwell was burdened with a large debt contracted for the interment of the Protector. Such funeral burdens are well known among the poor, and their mourning is often aggravated by this artificial distress. Those who have great wealth ought to make large and liberal expenditure. Thus their money circulates and "The Way to Wealth." benefits multitudes, even down to the very poor. The remark of a rag-gatherer in Paris contained a lecture of political economy:-" When there is no luxury, we make nothing." But expenditure should always be less than income, otherwise a man becomes a spendthrift and devours his substance, making one believe in edible houses, as well as edible nests. Lord Bacon has given a wise precept with regard to curtailment of 66 expense : Commonly, it is less dishonourable to abridge petty charges than to stoop to petty gettings." This ought not to apply to mean and pernicious savings. Subscriptions to charities, church-offerings, pensions to the poor, are sometimes among the first to suffer in efforts after economy. How noble is Goethe's prayer in contrast :-" God grant that I may daily become more economical, that I may be able to do more for others." A cheap devotion is often popular, and no payments are so much grudged by some people as God's dues. He is never weary of giving: He is constantly renewing his gifts; and yet, no doubt, the Greek comedian described a common but mistaken feeling when he represented the statues of the gods as extending the hand with the hollow uppermost, not as about to give anything, but that they may receive something. Alexander the Great handsomely rebuked his tutor Leonidas, a parsimonious worshipper. It seems Leonidas one day had observed Alexander at a sacrifice, throwing * A chiffonier told Sir F. B. Head: "Quand il n'y a pas de luxe, on ne fait rien !"—" Faggot of French Sticks,” i. 462. + Bacon's Essays: "Of Expense." Aristoph. Eccles., 780. incense into the fire by handfuls, and said to him:"Alexander, when you have conquered the country where spices grow, you may be thus liberal of your incense; but in the meantime, use what you have more sparingly." When afterwards he found five hundred talents of frankincense among his spoils, he wrote to his old tutor:-"I have sent you frankincense and myrrh in abundance, that you may be no longer a churl to the gods." Saving is a great income, † for men become more wealthy not only by adding to their capital stock, but by subtracting from their expenses as well. It is in this way that the management of a good housewife is so valuable. The Greeks, from whom we borrow the word economy, took a larger view of it than we do, and applied it to the whole management of the house, and exalted it to the rank of an art or science.§ Xenophon gives a quaint and pleasing glimpse of their domestic life. His sketch of a model husband and wife is touching and impressive. He represents them as early in their married life offering sacrifice, and praying that they might teach and learn "what would be best for both of us." The young wife made many vows to the gods that she would be such as she ought to be. He recommends the art of knowing how to keep a surplus; the habit of numbering, and making lists of utensils, and storing all things in their proper places; ** and his idea on the subject of order is so good that it deserves to be reproduced. "As to * Plut. in Alex. + Magnum vectigal parsimonia est. disorder, it seems to me something like as if a husbandman should throw into his granary barley and wheat and peas together, and then, when he wants barley bread, or wheaten bread, or peas-soup, should have to abstract them grain by grain, instead of having them separately laid up for his use."* To some the worship of money and its abuses have seemed so detestable that they have passed into the other extreme, and decried riches; while they have lauded poverty as the mother of virtue, of industry, and invention. After all it must be admitted that a little freehold is a great blessing. It enables a man to hold out in his struggles for success; it secures many of the good things of life; and it fortifies a man against unpopularity and enmity. On a little money more or less depends comfort, sometimes health, sometimes life itself. Many a man who has broken down might have lived if he had possessed the means of taking a holiday and rest, of consulting skilful medical men, and of procuring requisite comforts and medicines. Wealth brings cares and responsibilities. Listen to the testimony of Joseph John Gurney: "I can certainly testify that some of the greatest pains and most burdensome cares which I have had to endure, have arisen out of being what is usually called a monied man." He * Xenoph. Econ., viii. 9. +"Scilicet uxorem cum dote fidemque et amicos Et genus et formam regina Pecunia donat, Ac bene nummatum decorat Suadela Venusque." ‡ “At mihi plaudo.”—Hor. Sat. i. 1, 66. would often also say that the painful consciousness of the poverty and suffering of many thousands around him, almost prevented his enjoyment of the abundant blessings with which he was himself so richly favoured.* A fine instance of the responsibility of wealth is preserved in the account of the Sultan Noureddin. His favourite Sultana sighed for some female object of expense. "Alas!" (replied the king) "I fear God, and am no more than the treasurer of the Moslems. Their property I cannot alienate; but I still possess three shops in the city of Hems: these you may take, and these alone can I bestow." Get honourably; keep securely; increase gradually; spend usefully, and bear in mind that economy is by no means a paltry habit, but that the right management of money greatly affects happiness. Wrongly to give and wrongly to withhold has taken away from many thẹ enjoyment of this fair world.† Lending is a difficult question; and the experience of most men would pronounce against it. Yet it is enjoined in Scripture, and may often be the salvation of a man and his family. Of course loans on security are here excluded. A loan to an honest, struggling man is an incalculable boon, and helps him to help himself. But generally it will be found true, as perhaps Shakespeare found, that "loan oft loses both itself and friend."‡ * Life, i. 299, 383. † "Mal dare, e mal tener lo mondo polcro Ha tolto loro."-Inferno, vii. 58. In 1604 an action was brought by Shakespeare in the Court of |