good salary, has died and left nothing behind him—that he has left his wife and f***ly destitute—left them to chance—to live or perish anywhere—we cannot but regard it as the most selfish thriftlessness.
Subscriptions may produce something—perhaps nothing; and the ruined remnants of the unhappy f***ly sink into poverty and destitution.
Yet the merest prudence would, to a great extent, have obviated this result. The curtailment of any sensual and selfish enjoyment—of a glass of beer or a screw of tobacco—would enable a man, in the course of years, to save at least something for others, instead of wasting it on himself.
It is, in fact, the absolute duty of the poorest man to provide, in however slight a degree, for the support of himself and his f***ly in the season of sickness and helplessness which often comes upon men when they least expect such a visitation.
Comparatively few people can be rich; but most have it in their power to acquire, by industry and economy, sufficient to meet their personal wants. They may even become the possessors of savings sufficient to secure them against penury and poverty in their old age. It is not, however, the want of opportunity, but the want of will, that stands in the way of economy. Men may labor unceasingly with hand or head; but they cannot abstain from spending too freely, and living too highly.
The majority prefer the enjoyment of pleasure to the practice of self-denial.
Money represents a multitude of objects without value, or without real utility; but it also represents something much more precious, —and that is independence. In this light it is of great moral importance.
As a guarantee of independence, the modest and plebeian quality of economy is at once ennobled and raised to the rank of one of the most meritorious of virtues. “Never treat money affairs with levity,” said Bowler, “Money is Character.” Some of man’s best qualities depend upon the right use of money, —such as his generosity, benevolence, justice, honesty, and forethought. Many of his worst qualities also originate in the bad use of money, —such as greed, miserliness, injustice, extravagance, and improvidence.
Men must prepare in youth and in middle age the means of enjoying old age pleasantly and happily. There can be nothing more distressing than to see an old man who has spent the greater part of his life in well-paid-for-labor, reduced to the necessity of begging for bread, and relying entirely on the commiseration of his neighbors, or upon the bounty of strangers. Such a consideration as this should inspire men in early life with a determination to work and to save, for the benefit of themselves and their f***lies in later years.