y gratify a wish to take unfair advantages of those
with whom he deals. But I hope otherwise; for I should be sorry to give
countenance, for one moment, to such conduct. My whole purpose (in this
place) is to give direction to the young for securing their own rights;
not for taking away the rights of others. The man who loves his
neighbor as himself, will not surely put a wrong construction on what I
have written. I would fain hope that there is no departure here or
elsewhere, in the book, from sound christian morality; for it is the
bible, on which I wish to see all moral rules based.

SECTION VI. _Buying upon Trust._

'Owe no man any thing,' is an apostolic injunction; and happy is he who
has it in his power to obey. In my own opinion, most young men possess
this power, did they perceive the importance of using it by
_commencing_ right. It is not so difficult a thing always to purchase
with ready money, as many people imagine. The great difficulty is to
moderate our desires and diminish our wants within bounds proportioned
to our income. We can expend much, or live on little; and this, too,
without descending to absolute penury. It is truly surprising to
observe how people in similar rank, condition, and circumstances,
contrive to _expend_ so very differently. I have known instances of
young men who would thrive on an income which would not more than half
support their neighbors in circumstances evidently similar.

Study therefore to live within your income. To this end you must
_calculate_. But here you will be obliged to learn much from personal
experience, dear as her school is, unless you are willing to learn from
that of others. If, for example, your income is $600 a year, and you
sit down at the commencement of the year and calculate on expending
$400, and saving the remainder, you will be very liable to fail in your
calculation. But if you call in the experience of wiser heads who have
travelled the road of life before you, they will tell you that after
you have made every reasonable allowance for necessary expenses during
the year, and believe yourself able to lay up $200, you will not, once
in ten times, be able to save more than _two thirds_ of that sum--and
this, too, without any sickness or casualty.

It is an important point _never to buy what you do not want_. Many
people buy an article merely because it is cheap, and they can have
credit. It is true they imagine they shall want it at some future ti