and with an air as open, as the thoughtless prodigal; and yet be sure, by this means, never to run out, and never to bestow upon any one article more than it deserved?

I will suppose myself at this present possessed of ten thousand a year; nor will the supposition make me at all vain, gentle reader; since it implies but the being a steward to other people, and a slave to propriety. O, it is ten times the more indolent thing to have but a little, and yet the same kind of management is required in all. Well; but what shall I do with this estate of mine? First of all I buy me a large and pompous account book: then I consider how much must necessarily be employed in mere living, and I write down the sum total on the first page: this is afterwards subdivided into its proper dis stinct articles; and each of them has a page allotted to itself. And here it must be observed, that there are innumerable proprieties of appearance, as indispensably necessary to the rich man, as bare food and clothing to the poor. The other pages of the book must each have their title at top, as thus : Charities 10001. For the service of my friends and of the public, 1000l.—For proper improvements of my houses, gardens, estates, 1000l. and so on. I doubt whether knick-knacks, cabinets, or any immoderate expenses in jewels, plate, or pictures, would find a place in such a list as this.

It would surely be easy, by frequently comparing the daily articles of expense under each head, with the determination marked at top, to keep every one

within bounds, and to enjoy what is in our ówn power, without in the least pining after what is not for that we may read the precepts of the Stoics; and, for the other, let us consider a little those instances we may see all around us, of good characters disgraced by an ill-judged savingness in some insignificant particulars, and by a want of ease and propriety in trifling expenses.

If people have any esteem for frugality, they should try to do it honour, by showing that it is not inconsistent with a becoming and a generous spirit. I have heard very many people accused of coretousness, and generally hated, under that odious character, who, perhaps, had no principle of that kind, and who threw away often as much upon foolish expenses, that had not struck them in the saving view, as they piuched out of others, which made them look paltry and mean in the eyes of the world. Few people, I believe, are heartily covetous throughout; and this makes it so easy for them to flatter themselves that they are not tainted at all with a vice, the very notion of which would affront them; and for those in the other extreme, they too deceive themselves in the same sort : whence comes the old proverb,

"Penny wise, and pound foolish."

VI.

On the Importance of Riches.

THERE are a great many things that sound mighty well in the declamatory way, and yet have no sort of truth and justness in them. The equality between poverty and riches, or, rather, the superior advantages of the former, is a pretty philosophical paradox that I could never comprehend. I will grant, very readily, that the short sleeps of a labouring man are full as sweet and wholesome as the slumbers indulged upon down beds and under gilded roofs: I will readily confess, that let people have never so many apartments, they can be but in one at a time; and, in a word, that the luxury and pageantry that riches bring with them is despicable, and infinitely less eligible, than the simplicity of plainer life. It must be owned, too, that greatness and fortune place people in the midst of innumerable difficulties; and that they are severely accountable for all those advantages they neglect to improve. But so, indeed, a man is a more accountable creature than a hog; and yet none but a Gryllus, I believe, would prefer the situation of the latter.

I do not say that people should, upon all occasions, put themselves forward, and aspire to those dangerous heights, which, perhaps, they were never formed to ascend: the fable of Phaeton would be much more instructive than such a lesson as this: but I would say, and say it loudly, to all whom Heaven has placed already in the midst of riches and honours, that they possess the highest privilege, and ought to exert themselves accordingly. These people have advantages of improving their being to the noblest purposes; and, with the same degree of pains and application that furnishes the poor artificer a daily provision for himself and his family, they may become a kind of beneficent angels to their fellow-creatures, and enjoy themselves a happiness superior to all pleasure.

It is a pretty thought of Seneca, that as a merchant, whose goods are considerable, is more sensible of the blessing of a fair wind and a safe passage, than he that has only ballast, or some coarse commodity in the vessel, so life is differently enjoyed by men, according to the different freight of their minds. Those of indigent fortunes are generally obliged to have theirs too much filled with an attention to provide the low necessaries of life. In. deed, riches and greatness are as strong an obstacle as the other to spending life in theory and practice; but it is, however, nobler, and a more delightful task to provide for the general good of multitudes than for the subsistence of a few individuals. I speak of what riches might be; God knows, not of what they are.

The rich, the great, who act an insignificant part in life, are the most despicable wretches of the whole creation; while the poor, the mean, the despised part of mankind, who live up to the height of their capacity and opportunities, are noble, venerable, and happy.

Is it not amazing that creatures, so fond of preeminence and distinction, so biassed by interest, so dazzled by fortune, as all the race of men are, should so blindly trample under foot the only true advantages of fortune; the only pre-eminence, the only honour, the highest joy, the brightest lustre, that all those gay things they pursue could bestow upon them? Where is the beauty to be found, that will choose to waste her youth where no eye can behold her? Where is the man of wit that will sit down contented with his own admiration, and lock up his papers in a chest for his own private reading? Yet the covetous man, as far as in him lies, conceals the advantage he is fondest of, and puts himself, as much as possible, upon a level with that poverty he despises. Good Heaven! that people should not rather choose to lay hold on every honest means that can raise them into a kind of superior being! Who would not go through toil, and pain, and danger, to attain so glorious a preeminence, an honour beyond the Olympic crown of old? And yet it is but at the expense of a little openness of heart, a little thought and contrivance, a little honest generous industry in bestowing properly, that a man of rank and fortune may shine