266 TRAVELS THROUGH 

 fince we fettled at Murat, -or rather fmce 

 we began the work of improvement. All 

 that miferable anxiety about money, which, 

 in the world, poifons three-fourths of the 

 moments of three-fourths of its people, we 

 annihilated, by confining our expences to our 

 certain income. Half the imprudence, which 

 I remember to have feen among mofl of my 

 acquaintance, was the failure in this cir- 

 cumftance. People, with a fmall certain 

 income, and a probable larger one, would, 

 in their expences, clafs themfelves with an 

 idea of the latter ratber than the former : 

 the confequence of which is, that any dif- 

 appointments have the fame efTecl: as running 

 in debt. When we found that our nett 

 income was 63!. a year, and that what we 

 might make of our 5,000!. was quite an 

 uncertainty, we confined all our wants to 

 the former, which fet us perfectly at eafe in 

 laying out the latter. This rule we adhered 

 fleadily to, till our wants were pared down 

 to our allowance, and the ceconomy was 

 no longer difagreeable. Even when the 

 certainty of my fuccefs in improving ap- 

 peared very clear, yet we adhered to our 



maxim. 



