AND WHERE TO FIND ONE. 91 



to. His civil, social, and religious relations must be main 

 tained. Not one of these was neglected ; he stood in his 

 place as an American citizen, and took upon himself all the 

 duties and responsibilities of his station. In this respect he 

 avoided an error which most young men in debt fall into, 

 who in their impatience are ready to forego almost the com 

 forts of life, ignore most important social relations, and leave 

 all improvements till they are out of debt. They are will 

 ing to deny themselves and their families all the elegancies 

 of life, and make themselves mere drudges to obtain first 

 a competence ; and, when this is accomplished, they find 

 themselves unfitted by their habits and associations for a 

 true enjoyment of what they possess, have become sordid, 

 and are only satisfied with increase of gain. But our farmer 

 improved his place with many tasteful though simple em 

 bellishments, and his mind by reading and good society, 

 and this without any great expense of time and money. He 

 rejected the principle that a man ought to make as much 

 money as he can. 



&quot; He accomplished what he undertook, in paying for his 

 farm. Not quite as soon as he expected (the gray hairs be 

 gin to crown his head), for he had his share of the reverses 

 of business, and it might seem a loug time ; but when he 

 had paid his debt, he had a complete farm, a good estate, a 

 competence. For, as I said, he improved his farm yearly, 

 so that the productive capacity of it is more than doubled, 

 and the net profits are in still greater proportion ; the 

 fences are good, and the buildings greatly enlarged and im 

 proved, and the stock of the -farm increased in number and 

 value. So that what cost him ten thousand dollars is now 

 worth more than twenty thousand dollars. 



&quot; Xow, the very thing which our fast young men picture 

 to themselves as the desired end of all their anxious toil 

 and hazardous speculation, a quiet enjoyment of rural life, 



