ror, and then its victims, are not usually of the baser sort. So far from it, they are, for the most part, of liberal; views, and generously animated with a desire of distinction. Ardently bent upon that object, and knowing. that, in this strange world, nothing confers distinction so much as wealth, they assume, and strive hard to hold up, the semblance of wealth, though unfortunately destitute of the reality. And hew can they do otherwise, without suffering the agonies of mortification? Endowed with keen sensibility, it touches them deep, that some of their neighbors, no better than themselves, should make a better appearance, and of course attract more notice. How can they put their sons and their daughthers, as well as wives, upon a footing with those who are fashionably called good families, unless they equal, or nearly approach them, in the expenses of the table and in personal habiliments?

This path, bordered on every side with precipices, is often gone into unawares at first. It is indiscretion mixed up with vanity, and that without a single particle of the corrupt leaven of intentional dishonesty. But though overliving may, in its commencement, be owing to mere indiscretion combined with a seemingly harmless vanity, yet in its progress, it becomes deserving of a far worse name. That is indeed a pernicious and mortal error, whereby one puts himself into circumstances which, as it were, compel him to commit new errors, increasing in magnitude as fast as in number.

How

When a man is once resolved to keep up expensive appearances till he can hold out no longer, his moral frame goes to wreck as fast as his circumstances. ever honest, however trust-worthy he had been in his better days, he no longer possesses these estimable qualities, nor any just sense of honor. He casts about him for arts of shift and evasion. The perpetual duns at his door he tries to satisfy with fair promises, which he has no expectation or intention of performing. His heart becomes callous towards his creditors, and he grows quite regardless of their feelings, however deplorably they have to suffer by him. Like a drowning man, he catches at every thing. To gain a little respite, he will inveigle his near friend into suretyship, and will drag his friend along with him to ruin.

Poor human nature is seldom proof against strong temptations voluntarily run into; and as seldom, per haps, in the instance under consideration, as in any other. Nor are there any who are fairly entitled to promise themselves beforehand, that their integrity can stem the moral whirlpool in which so many characters, once fair, have been overwhelmed.

An excellent rule has been laid down by the eminent moralist, Dr. Johnson; and it were to be wished that young men in particular would remember it, and make a practical use of it at the outset of active life: the rule is this-"A man's voluntary expenses should not exceed his income." A vast mass of misery and mischief might be prevented, were it the general custom to adhere to this maxim as far as circumstances might admit.

But as respects most of the American population, whose incomes depend altogether upon their personal exertions, it is not enough that they are fully adequate to their expenses: in the prime and health of life they should resolutely reduce their expenses below their gains, or they will suffer want in sickness and age. If they spend as fast as they earn, and that without urgent necessity, their improvidence is no less pitiful than that of the storied savage, who cut down the tree in order to enjoy the fruit. Not to mention that those who are parents of small children are bound by sacred ties, not only to give them a present support, but to provide if possible against the contingency of their becoming orphans: a condition doubly calamitous to those hapless children, who, from the enjoyment of superfluities, suddenly sink into poverty, and suffer the pinching want of necessaries.

CHAP. LVI.

Of banqueting upon borrowing.

"Be not made a beggar by banqueting upon borrowing, when thou hast nothing in thy purse.” ECCLES. xviii. 38.

THE moral philosopher of old Jewry, who penned this admirable book, is practical in his observations, and at the same time, acute and discriminating. He dips not into the incomprehensible subtleties of abstract science, relative to the mysterious frame and texture of humanity, but describes the wonderful creature Man, such as he is shown to be by his actions, and adapts his moral and prudential cautions and precepts to man as he is to his condition and conduct in real life.

Whether the sage had himself been taken in, by some of them, or from whatever cause, he hits off certain borrowers of his own time, with a peculiar keenness of description, in the passage that here follows:

"Many, when a thing was lent them, reckoned it to be found, and put them to trouble that helped them. Till he hath received, he will kiss a man's hand; for his neighbor's money he will speak submissively; but when he should repay, he will prolong the time and returu words of grief, and complain of the time. If he prevail, he shall hardly receive the half, and shall count as if he had found it: if not, he hath deprived him of his money, and he hath gotten him an enemy without cause he payeth him with cursings and railings; and for honor he will pay him disgrace.'

The sage next proceeds to relate how the aforesaid conduct of some certain borrowers went to discourage all liberality in lending. "Many therefore have refused to lend for other men's ill dealing, fearing to be defrauded."*

And here one might amuse himself not a little with comparing the past with the present-things relative to borrowing and lending, as they stood some thousand * Chapter xxix.

years ago, with what they are now,

try of ours.

in this goodly coun

But to proceed: our venerable author, is not as a coldblooded satirist, who rather labors to excite the feeling of scorn and hatred, than of compassion. He gives, on the contrary, no countenance to covetous hoarding: much less to griping extortion. He saith not, "Since things are so, it is best to trust nobody." No. So far was this ungracious sentiment from the heart of the son of Sirach, he warmly inculcates a noble liberality, a disinterested benevolence. For, after having observed as above, that many refused to lend for other men's ill dealing, fearing to be defrauded, he immediately adds, "Yet have thou patience with a man in poor estate, and delay not to shew him mercy. Help the poor for the commandment's sake, and turn him not away because of his poverty. Lose thy money for thy brother and thy friend, and let it not rust under a stone to be lost." Again, in the same chapter he says, "He that is merciful will lend unto his neighbor."- "Lend to thy neighbor in the time of his need." And elsewhere, he cautions against a churlishuess of expression and manner in the act of giving, and, by parity of reason, in lending. "My son, blemish not thy good deeds, neither use uncomfortable words when thou givest." All which is accompanied with this wholesome injunction to the other party: "Pay thou thy neighbor again in due season. Keep thy word and deal faithfully with him, and thou shalt always find the thing that is necessary for thee."

Upon the whole, then, it may be fairly concluded that the precious book now under consideration—which indeed possesses every venerable attribute, with the exception of inspiration alone-is very far from altogether discouraging the neighborly intercourse of borrowing and lending; seeing the scope of its lessons on this subject is to recommend moderation and scrupulous punctuality to the one class, and a humane and generous line of conduct to the other.

One may borrow occasionally and be the better for it, and at the same time the lender suffers no injury or inconvenience: but to banquet upon borrowing, is a

beggarly way of living. If thou hast nothing in thy purse, replenish it, if possible, with thy own earnings, rather than by borrowing; or if that be impossible for the present, yet be cautious against taking more than is needful, and ever be careful to pay it back in due time. For-to repeat the admonition aforecited-" Pay thou thy neighbor again in due season. Keep thy word, and deal faithfully with him, and thou shalt always find the thing that is necessary for thee."

I intreat the reader's particular attention to the matter which I have just now rehearsed, since it comes from no ordinary authority, and is of superior excellence in itself. For the rest; the few observations that will follow must suffice.

In the simple old times of our author, borrowing at a premium, or on interest, was scarcely known. So that they who, in those days, banqueted on borrowing, must have done it, only in a small way, which bears no sort of comparison with the every day's experience of the present age. This thing has, with us, both individually and nationally, been carried to a wild and lamentable extreme, utterly unknown to former ages, and in any other country but one.* But passing this over, what remains is, to consider the subject of borrowing, on the small scale, and according to the most general acceptation of the word.

In this sense of the term, one who borrows, contracts a debt, with respect to which, every principle of honesty and honor binds him to observe the utmost punctuality. For, the lender gives up the use of his property without fee or reward. All he demands or expects is, that the thing be returned in good condition, and punctually, according to promise. Wherefore, a loan is a sort of sacred debt; and to delay payment, much more never to pay, though there be no want of power, is returning evil for good, injury for kindness.

*It is not more than about one hundred and thirty years since the commencement of England's national debt, which is now swollen to such an enormous magnitude that the annual product of all the gold and silver mines in the known world would be scarcely sufficient to pay its interests. What an awful warning to this American republic!