254 The Art of getiivg into Debl. [March, 



The author, aware that many short-sighted people would rail against 

 him for the supposed mischievous tendency of his work, boldly appeals in 

 the very outset from the judgment of such persons, and places his claim 

 to the attention of the French public on the utility of the art which he pro- 

 poses to teach. He says, that the human intellect has begun its march, and, 

 that the great interest of society properly maintained, every thing else 

 must go right ; and then, with an a plomb which would not disgrace a 

 Chancellor of the Exchequer, he says, " the art of contracting debts 

 and never paying them is one of the elements of social order." There is 

 no denying this ; and perhaps all the objections we have to make to the 

 work arise rather out of the state of society in England, tlian apply to 

 that of France. There are some principles, however, of universal truth, 

 in which, like the last, we cordially concur with him. For instance, when 

 he says — " M. J. B. Say, the celebrated political economist, has demon- 

 strated that the people of a state are divided into they tvho consume and 

 they who produce: therefore," to every one who produces, society owes the 

 equivalent of that which is produced." He proves afterwards, in a man- 

 ner so obvious that it is not necessary to refer to it, that every man 

 who is the cause of production, has the same title as the man who 

 actually produces, although he does nothing of his own proper labour. 



So far we are of the same opinion — so far the caS^e of the French 

 Homme comme il faut and of our own run, as the lawyers say, on all- 

 fours. But when the author proceeds to lay down certain physical and 

 natural qualifications for his pupil, without which he earnestly cautions 

 no man to attempt getting into debt — there we differ from him en- 

 tirely, and are so far from believing any such qualifications to be neces- 

 sary, that we think they would, on some occasions, stand in the way of 

 the artist. Still these propositions are entitled to respect, as well for 

 their own validity (in France), as for the amiable manner in which they 

 are laid down. 



" L'homme comme il faut" says he, " who is not worth a penny, must 

 be richly endowed by nature." Property has been hitherto defined by 

 the laws in a very unsatisfactory manner, and its extent is, in fact, 

 much greater than has been imagined. The jurisconsults will tell you 

 that they divide property into moveable and immoveable : hence all those 

 contemptible prejudices by which the worth of a man is estimated 

 according to the greater or lesser number of his acres, the splendour of 

 his establishments and appointments, the amount of his money, and so 

 forth ; and hence it is that esteem, and credit, and education, and all 

 the qualities which really distinguish mankind, are made the very hum- 

 ble servants of weights and measures and a broker's catalogue. 



Nothing can be more incomplete than this theory. The fact is, that, 

 independently of these elements of property, which, it may be admitted, 

 are entitled to certain consideration, there are others of more real and 

 incontestable merit : for example — 



From thirty to forty years of age. 



A stature of from five feet five to six feet. 



Thirty-two white teeth. 



An iron constitution. 



An appetite of bronze. 



A strong back and a heavy hand. 



Ample and thick whiskers. 



And a calf of six inches in diameter. 



