success to the acquisition of wisdom, lavishes its energies vainly away upon the pursuits of ambition or of avarice, or loses and buries them in sensuality and vanity. When forced by his duty to society to resist, or to contrive the destruction of those whose conduct is extensively and deeply pernicious, he will proceed with regret, but with caution and firmness, without anger or malice.

CHAP. XII.

OF THE PASSION OF AVARICE.

THE necessity of providing for our subsistence, the dread of failure in this important pursuit, and the pleasure which the exertion of activity always produces, give rise to the desire of hoarding, usually denominated the passion of avarice. In the progress of society, money becomes the representative of what is called wealth; that is to say, of the means of subsistence and of accommodation. Money, therefore, is usually the object of this passion.

Considering the matter in general, nothing

can appear more absurd than that superfluity of wealth which, without intending to apply it to any use, a covetous man is so eager to obtain. But such is the tendency of the mind of man to become fond of any object which has long occupied its attention, that it is impossible to exaggerate the blind vehemence with which the love of money is capable of laying hold of the human heart. Indeed, the history of all ages assures us, that the entire dominion which avarice assumes over the mind, renders it more completely subversive than any other passion, of all regard for intellectual worth, or for any thing that has a tendency to promote the welfare of mankind. Sparta, Athens, and Rome, fell before it, when it had taught the citizens to prefer themselves to their country, and to regard private riches as preferable to integrity and public spirit. Individuals have resisted this passion; but no people has yet been found whom it has been unable, at the longrun, to overthrow. For a time they may have made a vigorous stand against it; but, under certain circumstances, it has always proved successful.

When a poor man sets about amassing wealth, he necessarily becomes cautious in his actions. He must consider well the nature of every undertaking in which he is about to engage, and count the cost; and survey with accuracy every

possibility of failure. He must rise up early in the morning, and acquire habits of industry, of self-command, and of abstinence from every costly pleasure. He must not only do so, but he must acquire the reputation of having done so, by avoiding the society of the idle and the gay, and even perhaps of the ambitious and the learned, that he may frequent more.zealously the company of those who, being engaged in similar pursuits with himself, can give the best information of pecuniary advantages to be obtained, or dangers to be avoided. He must fulfil with punctuality every engagement made by him, that men may have confidence in the af fluence of his circumstances; for, above all things, he must avoid the appearance of poverty. A successful general, a skilful physician, a learned lawyer, a celebrated poet, or a profound philosopher, may be accounted careless of their private affairs, without injury to the respect which mankind entertain for them; but nothing can be more fatal than such a suspicion to a man engaged in commerce, that is to say, in the pursuit of riches.

By this train of conduct, a man will gradually learn to keep the object of his pursuit continually in view. As he whose only wish is the acquisition of an enlightened mind, will often reflect on the nature of that perfection at which he aims, and upon the means of attaining it; as

he who seeks military glory will occupy himself in devising modes of attack and defence; as the poet must labour to enrich his fancy, and the physician to extend his knowledge of nature; so a man, who makes the pursuit of wealth the business of his life, will meditate continually on the means of attaining it, and the lucrative advantages to be derived from every new occurrence. He will examine the productions of every art, with no other view but to discover if they can be rendered the means of gain. He will discern no beauty or excellence in the works of nature, unless so far as they can be rendered profitable. When the wind blows, he will think of the hazard of the sea, and the propriety of insurance. He will see nothing in the rising sun but a cheap candle to light him to his labours. When he travels, he will consider every new scene as beautiful or barren according to the opportunity which it affords of making lucrative bargains; and when he remains at home, he will measure time by the periods of receiving money, or of giving it away. The expectation of the former will make the hours seem too slow, and the dread of the latter will give them the appearance of rapidity. Thus the passion of avarice, or the love of money, can scarcely fail gradually to occupy his mind. He will think of nothing else by day, he will dream of nothing else by night, but money; and his imagination, or his memory,

will present to him no images but those of profit and loss. Love is disappointed or gratified, and there it ends. Ambitious men may sometimes reach the summit of their wishes; and, even in the midst of their career, the pride of spirit and vehemence of character which they usually possess, will at times lead them to disregard their principal object. But avarice is a steady passion. It has no intervals, and can never be fully gratified. All other passions have temporary periods of relaxation and calmness. This calm is the period at which avarice interposes, and presents prospects of profit. These are weighed, and reasoned upon; and, when men yield to them, they think they are acting, not from a worthless and narrow sentiment, but upon principles of deliberate reason and superior wisdom. Thus the covetous man often possesses a portion of that self-approbation which ought to belong to virtue; and hence the love of money is better fitted than any other passion, to tame the fiercest spirits, and to subdue the most determined integrity. The barbarous nations that overwhelmed the Roman empire were softened by means of it. Among them every man was entitled to avenge his own quarrels, or those of his family; and the magistrate had no right to prevent his doing so But that vehement spirit of revenge, which the laws could not openly oppose, they undermined by the aid of Avarice. They allowed