THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



231 



your debts without selling your land or negroes. 

 Besides this, you must abandon your love of lo- 

 comotion, and cease your visits to Cape May, 

 Saratoga, Niagara, and the Lakes. Your resi- 

 dence is entirely healthy throughout the year, j 

 and being in debt, you can urge no good reason j 

 why you should apply the proceeds of your 

 crops to trips of recreation instead of to the 

 payment of your just debts. If compelled by 

 bad health to leave home during the summer, 

 go to Old Point Comfort or to some of the Vir- 

 ginia Springs. No state in the Union surpasses 

 Virginia in beauty and variety of scenery or in 

 the number and efficacy of its mineral waters. 

 Unless required by bad health to leave your 

 home and . business, remain at home. With 

 farmers, summer .is an important and busy 

 season, while the reverse is true in regard to 

 the inhabitants of cities. It costs city people 

 not much more to travel in summer than to live 

 in town, as they always have to pay for their 

 meats and vegetables, milk, butter, &c. Not 

 so however with the farmer. But I am digress- 

 ing and must return to my subject. Remem- 

 ber that there are no gains without pains, and 

 that he who "rises late must trot all day, and 

 and shall scarce overtake his business /it 

 night, " as poor Richard says, and truly. To 

 industry y^u must add common sense, if 

 you wish to avoid shipwreck. Your father 

 had a good share of common sense, but if I 

 were to judge you by your $10,000 dwelling 

 and your $10,000 worth of furniture, I should 

 say, Christopher, that you had not an ounce, 

 yea a grain of common sense. Do then try arid 

 acquire this essential kind of sense. Instead of 

 acting like Don Quixote, follow the good exam- 

 ple of your father. Be your income what it 

 may, never allow your expenditures to exceed 

 your income. Unless you learn to save as well 

 as how to make money, you will keep your nose 

 all you life to the grindstone and die not worth 

 a groat at last. You must learn how to make 

 large crops, you must exhibit your industry in 

 making and saving them, your sagacity as to 

 the time for selling them, and your economy in 

 using the proceeds. Some verdant youths 

 speak of economy as synonymous with parsi- 

 mony. This absurdity may pass among juve- 

 niles and also among some extravagant young 

 men. Economy is, in truth, as far removed 

 from parsimony as from extravagance — the two 

 last being extremes, and economy occupying 

 middle and mutual ground. * The prudent 

 man likes economy — the miser delights in par- 

 simony and the spendthrift in extravagance. 



There are probably not more than fifty farm- 

 ers in Virginia who would be justifiable — in 

 epiisequeii e of their wealth — in spending $20,- 

 000 in building and furnishing a country house. 

 Your means certainly did not authorise such an 

 expenditure. Have you forgotten that 



"Vessels large may venture more, 



But little boats should keep near shore." 



Not content with the dimensions of a large 

 frog you have nearly exploded in your abortive 

 effort to rival the ox. You now find, as Poor 

 Richard says, that "creditors have better memo- 

 ries than debtors." Unless you abandon your 

 extravagant habits:,, yon will find as poor Dick 

 says, that "it is hard for an empty bag to stand 

 upright" and that "Lying rides upon Debt's 

 back." I will not however despair of you. 

 You have a large share of pride but not of the 

 right kind. Your prideis of the fashionable kind, 

 and savors of the New York "cod-fish aristocra- 

 cy" — a love of fine houses and costly furni- 

 ture—fine clothes, new carriages, dear horses, 

 diamonds, &c. These things have not brought 

 happiness to you, and your last letter contains 

 your acknowledgement of the fact. To keep 

 up appearances and delude the public, you con- 

 tracted debts and have been annoyed by duns. 

 By reforming your habits and paying your 

 debts, you will recover your former independ- 

 ence and cheerfulness. Duns will not then 

 annoy, Or debts disturb you. You will then 

 feel better, breathe more freely and sleep 

 sounder. The farmers and planters living 

 around you will be gratified to see this change 

 in your conduct, and will respect you more 

 highly. 



Two pair of carriage horses, a buggy horse 

 and a riding horse, making six in all, kept for 

 the benefit of yourself, wife and two children, 

 is a larger number of pleasure horses than you 

 ought to keep. I suggest that you sell at least 

 three of these horses, and thereby lessen the 

 tax upon your corn-house, and at the same time 

 discharge a part of your liabilities. One pair 

 of carriage horses and a riding horse besides, 

 ought to suffice for you and family, and I doubt 

 whether you would have had more than this 

 number if you had not built a costly house and 

 desired every thing to correspond. Retrench- 

 ment should be your motto. Don't forget, 

 Christopher, that "a ploughman on his legs is 

 higher than a gentleman on his knees," and 

 when you think of little expenses, reflect, that 

 " a small leak will sink a great ship." Your 

 wife knows, or ought to know, that "always 

 taking out of the meal-tub, and never putting 

 in, soon comes to the bottom." If she, good 

 soul, hints to you, that she would like for you 

 to order five or six silk dresses for her, remind 

 her that "silks and satins, scarlets and velvets 

 put out the kitchen fire." Both of you have 

 found out that "prideis as loud a beggar as 

 want, and a great deal more saucy." 



You ought to keep a journal of all your re- 

 ceipts and expenditures. This can be done 

 easily, and you will soon derive benefit from 

 the habit. ' I have followed 'the practice for 

 more than twenty years, and would respectfully 

 recommend it to you and all other farmers. No 

 man who will try the plan for one year will 

 ever willingly abandon it. I beg you to adopt 

 it without delay. Do not misunderstand me, 

 Christopher. While I condemn your extrava- 



