ill make it an annoyance to yourself rather
than a pleasure. But here caution is recommended; and you should only keep
a yacht if you can do so well within your means, and thoroughly
understanding that some day you may have to give it up, and that you must
not think that a hardship.

CLOTHES?

Yes, but within bounds. You can always afford to pay more for clothes than
they are worth, and pay more attention to them also than they are worth;
but here again temperance is recommended.

HORSES?

Yes; that is, enough to learn to ride, to master your horse, develop your
muscle and _abandon_ and poise, but not enough to watch jockeys carrying
your colors or your coachman before you carrying your reins. Learn to
ride, learn to drive; but that does not mean necessarily that you had
better bring a pony back with you.

THEATRES?

Use theatres sparingly. They are perfect gluttons for time, and use up
money. But of these the more important is time, and they make desperate
inroads into the next day. So be temperate in theatres. Put part in for
education and part for the discard.

BOOKS?

By all means. Spare no money on them. Be a spendthrift for books. We can
always afford them; but pay for the printed matter, and not for the
covers. If you choose books wisely and know what is in them and where to
get at them when you want them, you can for a very small expense have a
mine of information and recreation at your elbow, which could make you the
best educated of men.

CLUBS?

Freely. It mostly goes to the discard; but you can afford that, provided
you are careful not to have too great a waste of time. There are more
opportunities lost inside of club walls than are gained.

CARDS?

There is no gain in gambling beyond the opportunity of watching the human
character, and, incidentally to develop it; but it is time lost, and
unworthily lost. The end does not justify the means. You had better play
and read and sleep rather than gamble.

WINE?

Yes and no. Always in moderation. Do not acquire the habit of drinking. It
is useless; and, after all that is said in favor of it by our mutual
friend, Omar, and others, I can never see that a man is worse off for
never having been drunk, and I am even Puritanical enough to think that he
is better off, and, moreover, he has more self-respect, to say nothing of
the respect of others. Nobody ever loses caste by refusing to drink. It is
a difficult thing to do sometimes; but