2 MY REAL ESTATE. 



tively unremunerative. Here in New Eng- 

 land (I know not what may be true else- 

 where) there is a class of people whom it is 

 common to hear gossiped about compassion- 

 ately as " land poor." But, however scanty 

 the income to be derived from it, a landed 

 investment is at least substantial. It will 

 never fail its possessor entirely. If it starve 

 him, it will offer him a grave. It has the 

 prime quality of permanence. At the very 

 worst, it will last as long as it is needed. 

 Railroads may be "wrecked," banks be 

 broken, governments become bankrupt, and 

 we be left to mourn ; but when the earth 

 departs we shall go with it. Yes, the an- 

 cient form of speech is correct, land is 

 real; as the modern phrase goes, translat- 

 ing Latin into Saxon, land is the thing ; and 

 though we can scarcely reckon it among 

 the necessaries of life, since so many do 

 without it, we may surely esteem it one of 

 the least dispensable of luxuries. 



But I was beginning to speak of my tax- 

 bill, and must not omit to mention a further 

 advantage of real estate over other forms 

 of property. It is certain not to be over- 

 looked by the town assessors. Its pro- 



