QG THE HOME, FARM AND BUSINESS CYCLOPAEDIA. 



And suppose that no parents thus unkindly interpose between Amaryl- 

 lis and you, still it is a poor return to the disinterested love of Ama- 

 ryllis to take her, thoughtless child, at her word. Amaryllis proves her 

 unselfish love ; prove yours, my friend Strephon. Wait hope strive ; 

 her ring is on your finger ; her picture, though it be but a villainous 

 photograph, hangs by your bedside ; her image is safe in the innermost 

 fold of your heart. Wait till you can joyously say, " Come, Amaryllis, 

 Plutus relaxes his frown ; here is a home which, if humble, at least is se- 

 cure ; and if death suddenly snatch me away, here is no castle in air for 

 my widow, Amaryllis shall never live upon alms ! " 



How your love will deepen and strengthen in that generous delay ; and 

 with your love, how your whole nature, mental and moral, will deepen 

 and strengthen ! Here, indeed, is an object for climbing the rough paths 

 on to fortune ; and here the first friendly opposition of Plutus only 

 serves to place upon surer foundations the blessings promised by Hymen. 

 Constancy in love necessitates patience and perseverance in all efforts for 

 fortune ; and with patience and perseverance, a man of fair average capa- 

 cities is the master of fortune. 



But there are lesser objects than those I have defined as the most fre- 

 quently coveted which lend a charm to the making of money. 



It is a motive to economy, and a dissuasion from many profitless fol- 

 lies, to cherish early in life one favourite hobby, provided the hobby be 

 sound and well-bred. 



The taste for books, and the desire to collect them, are no mean tests 

 of a school-boy's career as man. 



One of the most distinguished personages in Europe, showing me his 

 library which is remarkable for its extent and its quality (it was formed 

 on the principle of including all works that treat, directly or indirectly, 

 on the human mind, and thus, necessarily includes almost every book 

 worth reading) said to me, " Not only this collection, but my social suc- 

 cesses in life, I trace back to the first franc I saved from the cake shop to 

 spend on the book-stall. When I was a young man, and received an in- 

 vitation to a ball, not being then rich, I calculated what it would cost me 

 in kid gloves and coach hire, and, refusing the ball, bought a book with 

 the money. The books I bought I read : the books I read influenced my 

 career." Perhaps this eminent person might have thought of the balls 

 thus refused in his early youth when, being still young, he gave his own 

 first ball as Prime Minister. 



But hobbies should be wives, not mistresses. It will not do to have 

 more than one at a time. One hobby leads you out of extravagance ; a 



