time!”
In short, he carried on his moral reflections with so just and severe a force of reason as constrained him to change his whole course of life, to break off his follies at once and to apply himself to gain some useful knowledge when he was more than thirty years of age. He lived many following years with the character of a worthy man and an excellent Christian; he performed the kind offices of a good neighbour at home, and made a shining figure as a patriot in the senate-house; he died with a peaceful conscience, and the tears of his country were dropped upon his tomb.
The world that knew the whole series of his life stood amazed at the mighty change. They beheld him as a wonder of reformation, while he himself confessed and adored the Divine power and mercy which had transformed him from a brute to a man.
But this was a single instance; and we may almost venture to write miracle upon it. Are there not numbers of both sexes among our young gentry in this degenerate age, whose lives thus run to utter waste, without the least tendency to usefulness?
When I meet with persons of such a worthless character as this it brings to my mind some scraps of Horace:
Nos numerus sumus, et fruges consumere nati,
. . . . . . . . . . Alcinoique
. . . . . . . . . . . juventus,
Cui pulchrum fuit in medios dormire dies, &c.
PARAPHRASE
There are a number of us creep
Into this world, to eat and sleep;
And know no reason why they ’re born,
But merely to consume the corn,
Devour the cattle, fowl, and fish,
And leave behind an empty dish.
Though crows and Ravens do the same,
Unlucky birds of hateful name,
Ravens or crows might fill their places,
And swallow corn and eat carcáses.
Then, if their tomb-stone, when they die,
Be n’t taught to flatter and to lie,
There ’s nothing better will be said,
Than that they ’ve eat up all their bread,
Drunk all their drink, and gone to bed.
There are other fragments of that heathen poet which occur on such occasions; one in the first of his Satires, the other in the last of his Epistles, which seem to represent life only as a season of luxury:
. . . Exacto contentus tempore vitæ
Cedat, uti conviva satur
Lusisti satis, edisti satis, atque bibisti;
Tempus abire tibi est.
Which may be thus put into English:
Life ’s but a feast; and when we die,
Horace would say, if he were by:
“Friend, thou hast eat and drunk enough,
‘T is time now to be marching off;
Then like a well-fed guest depart,
With cheerful looks, and ease at heart;
Bid all your friends good night, and say,
You ’ve done the business of the day.”
XXI: NECESSARY HINTS TO THOSE THAT WOULD BE RICH
The use of money is all the advantage there is in having money.
For six pounds a year you may have the use of one hundred pounds, provided you are a man of known prudence and honesty.
He that spends a groat a day idly spends idly above six pounds a year, which is the price for the use of one hundred pounds.
He that wastes idly a groat’s worth of his time per day, one day with another, wastes the privilege of using one hundred pounds each day.
He that idly loses five shillings’ worth of time loses five shillings, and might as prudently throw five shillings into the sea.
He that loses five shillings, not only loses that sum, but all the advantage that might be made by turning it in dealing, which, by the time that a young man becomes old, will amount to a considerable sum of money.
Again, he that sells upon credit asks a price for what he sells equivalent to the principal and interest of his money for the time he is to be kept out of it; therefore he that buys upon credit pays interest for what he buys, and he that pays ready money might let that money out to use; so that he that possesses any thing he has bought, pays interest for the use of it.
Yet, in buying goods, it is best to pay ready money, because he that sells upon credit expects to lose five per cent by bad debts; therefore he charges, on all he sells upon credit, an advance that shall make up that deficiency.
Those who pay for what they buy upon credit pay their share of this advance.
He that pays ready money escapes, or may escape, that charge.
A penny saved is two pence clear,
A pin a day ’s a groat a year.
XXII: THE WAY TO WEALTH
as clearly shown in the preface of an old almanac entitled “poor richard improved” Ref. 015
Richard Saunders
Courteous Reader:
I have heard that nothing gives an author so great pleasure as to find his works respectfully quoted by others. Judge, then, how much I must have been gratified by an incident I am going to relate to you. I stopped my horse lately where a great number of people were collected at an auction of merchants’ goods. The hour of the sale not being come, they were conversing on the badness of the times; and one of the company called to a plain, clean, old man, with white locks: “Pray, Father Abraham, what think you of the times? Will not these heavy taxes quite ruin the country? How shall we ever be able to pay them? What would you advise us to do?” Father Abraham stood up and replied: “If you would have my advice, I will give it you in short; for A word to the wise is enough, as Poor Richard says.” They joined in desiring him to speak his mind, and gathering round him he proceeded as follows:
“Friends,” said he, “the taxes are indeed very heavy, and if those laid on by the government were the only ones we had to pay, we might more easily discharge
