-six he thought
himself rich. These are his own words: "My appointments, with my
frugality, had made me reach a fortune which I called independent,
though most of my friends were inclined to smile when I said so: in
short, I was now master of near a thousand pounds." Every one knows that
a thousand pounds, at five per cent., means fifty pounds a year; and
Hume considered himself independent with that income. His friend Adam
Smith said of him: "Even in the lowest state of his fortune, his great
and necessary frugality never hindered him from exercising, upon proper
occasions, acts both of charity and generosity. It was a frugality
founded not on avarice, but upon the love of independency."

But one of the most remarkable illustrations of Thrift is to be found in
the history of the Rev. Robert Walker--the _Wonderful_ Robert Walker, as
he is still called in the district of Cumberland where he resided. He
was curate of Leathwaite during the greater part of last century. The
income of the curacy, at the time of his appointment (1735), was only
five pounds a year. His wife brought him a fortune of forty pounds. Is
it possible that he could contrive to live upon his five pounds a year,
the interest of his wife's fortune, and the result of his labours as a
clergyman? Yes, he contrived to do all this; and he not only lived well,
though plainly, but he saved money, which he left for the benefit of his
family. He accomplished all this by means of industry, frugality, and
temperance.

First, about his industry. He thoroughly did the work connected with his
curacy. The Sabbath was in all respects regarded by him as a holy day.
After morning and evening service, he devoted the evening to reading the
Scriptures and family prayer. On weekdays, he taught the children of the
parish, charging nothing for the education, but only taking so much as
the people chose to give him. The parish church was his school; and
while the children were repeating their lessons by his side, he was,
like Shenstone's schoolmistress, engaged in spinning wool. He had the
right of pasturage upon the mountains for a few sheep and a couple of
cows, which required his attendance. With this pastoral occupation he
joined the labours of husbandry, for he rented two or three acres of
land in addition to his own acre of glebe, and he also possessed a
garden,--the whole of which was tilled by his own hand. The fuel of the
house consisted of peat, procured by his labour