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Page 37
I have spoken several times of the study of economy, and of the science
of economy; and I used these words advisedly. However natural and
comparatively easy it may be to some persons to form an accurate
judgment of the general average of their ordinary expenses, and of all
the contingencies that are perpetually arising, I do not believe that
you possess this power by nature: you only need, however, to force your
intellectual faculties into this direction to find that here, as
elsewhere, they may be made available for every imaginable purpose. You
have sometimes probably envied those among your acquaintance, much less
highly gifted perhaps than yourself, who have so little difficulty in
practising economy, that without any effort at all, they have always
money in hand for any unexpected exigency, as well as to fulfil all
regular demands upon their purse. It is an observation made by every
one, that among the same number of girls, some will be found to dress
better, give away more, and be better provided for sudden emergencies,
than their companions. Nor are these ordinarily the more clever girls of
one's acquaintance: I have known some who were decidedly below par as to
intellect who yet possessed in a high degree the practical knowledge of
economy. Instead of vainly lamenting your natural inferiority on such an
important point, you should seek diligently to remove it.
An acquired knowledge of the art of economy is far better than any
natural skill therein; for the acquisition will involve the exercise of
many intellectual faculties, such as generalization, foresight,
calculation, at the same time that the moral faculties are strengthened
by the constant exercise of self-control. For, granted that the
naturally economical are neither shabbily penurious nor deficient in the
duty of almsgiving, it is still evident that it cannot be the same
effort to them to deny themselves a tempting act of liberality, or the
gratification of elegant and commendable tastes, as it must be to those
who are destitute of equally instinctive feelings as to the inadequacy
of their funds to meet demands of this nature. It is invariably true
that economy must be difficult, and therefore admirable in proportion to
the warm-heartedness and the refined tastes of those who practise it.
The highly-gifted and the generous meet with a thousand temptations to
expenditure beyond their means, of the number and strength of which the
less amiable and refined can form no adequate conception. If, however,
those above spoken of are exposed to stronger temptations than others,
they also carry within themselves the means, if properly employed, of
more powerful and skillful defence. There is, as I said before, no right
purpose, however contrary to the natural constitution of the mind, for
which intellectual powers may not be made available; and if strong
feelings render self-denial more difficult, especially in points of
charity or generosity, they, on the other hand, serve to impress more
deeply and vividly on the mind the painful self-reproach consequent to
any act of imprudence and extravagance.
The first effort made by your intellectual powers towards acquiring a
practical knowledge of the science of economy should be the important
one of generalizing all your expenses, and then performing the same
process upon the funds that there is a fair probability of your having
at your disposal. The former is difficult, as the expenditure of even a
single person, independent of any establishment, involves so many
unforeseen contingencies, that, unless by combining the past and the
future you generalize a probable average, and then bring this average
_within_ your income, you can never experience any of the peace of mind
and readiness to meet the calls of charity which economy alone bestows.
No one of strict justice can combine tranquillity with the indulgence of
generosity unless she lives _within_ her income. Whether the expenditure
be on a large or a small scale, it signifies little; she alone is truly
rich who has brought her wants sufficiently within the bounds of her
income to have always something to spare for unexpected contingencies.
In laying down rules for your expenditure, you will, of course, impose
upon yourself a regular dedication of a certain part of your income to
charitable purposes. This ought to be considered as entirely set apart,
as no longer your own: your opportunities must determine the exact
proportion; but the tenth, at least, of the substance which God has
given you must be considered as appropriated to his service; nor can you
hope for a blessing upon the remainder, if you withhold that which has
been distinctly claimed from you. Besides the regular allowance for the
wants of the poor, I can readily suppose that it will be a satisfaction
to you to deny yourself, from time to time, some innocent gratification,
when a greater gratification is within your reach, by laying out your
money "to make the widow's heart to sing for joy; to bring upon yourself
the blessing of him that was ready to perish."[67] Here, however, will
much watchfulness be required; you must be sure that it is only some
self-indulgence you sacrifice, and nothing of that which the claims of
justice demand. For when, after systematic, as well as present,
self-denial, you still find that you cannot afford to relieve the
distress which it pains your heart to witness, be careful to resist the
temptation of giving away that which is lawfully due to others. For the
purpose of saving suffering in one direction you may cause it in
another; and besides, you set yourself as plainly in opposition to that
which is the will of God concerning you as if your imprudent
expenditure were caused by some temptation less refined and unselfish
than the relief of real distress. The gratification that another woman
would find in a splendid dress, you derive from more exalted sources;
but if you or she purchase your gratification by an act of injustice, by
spending money that does not belong to you, you, as well as she, are
making an idol of self, in choosing to have that which the providence of
God has denied you. "The silver and the gold is mine, saith the Lord;"
and it cannot be without a special purpose, relating to the peculiar
discipline requisite for such characters, that this silver and gold is
so often withheld from those who would make the best and kindest use of
it. Murmur not, then, when this hard trial comes upon you, when you see
want and sorrow which you cannot in justice to others relieve; and when
you see thousands, at the very moment you experience this generous
suffering, expended on entirely selfish, perhaps sinful gratifications,
neither be tempted to murmur or to act unjustly. "Is it not the Lord;"
has not he in his infinite love and infinite wisdom appointed this very
trial for you? Bow your head and heart in submission, and dare not to
seek an escape from it by one step out of the path of duty. It may be
that close examination, a searching of the stores of memory, will bring
even this trial under the almost invariable head of needful
chastisement; it may be that it is the consequence of some former act of
self-indulgence and extravagance, which would have been forgotten, or
not deeply enough repented of, unless your sin had in this way been
brought to remembrance. Thus even this trial assumes the invariable
character of all God's chastisements: it is the inevitable consequence
of sin,--as inevitable as the relation of cause and effect. It results
from no special interposition of Providence, but is the natural result
of those decrees upon which the whole system of the world is founded;
secondarily, however, overruled to work together for good to the
penitent sinner, by impressing more deeply on his mind the humbling
remembrance of past sin, and leading to a more watchful future avoidance
of the same.
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