llowing terms:--[121]

"Another erroneous idea is that luxurious living, extravagant
dressing, splendid turn-outs and fine houses, are the cause of
distress to a nation, No more erroneous impression could exist.
Every extravagance that the man of 100.000 or 1,000,000 dollars
indulges in, adds to the means, the support, the wealth of ten or a
hundred who had little or nothing else but their labor, their
intellect, or their taste. If a man of 1,000,000 dollars spends
principal and interest in ten years, and finds himself beggared at
the end of that time, he has actually made a hundred who have
catered to his extravagance, employers or employed, so much richer
by the division of his wealth. He may be ruined, but the nation is
better off and richer, for one hundred minds and hands, with 10,000
dollars apiece, are far more productive than one with the whole."

Now that is precisely the view also taken of the matter by a large
number of Radical Economists in England as well as America; only they
feel that the time, however short, which the rich gentleman takes to
divide his property among them in his own way, is practically wasted;
and even worse, because the methods which the gentleman himself is
likely to adopt for the depression of his fortune will not, in all
probability, be conducive to the elevation of his character. It appears,
therefore, on moral as well as economical grounds, desirable that the
division and distribution should at once be summarily effected; and the
only point still open to discussion in the views of the Common
Councilmen is to what degree of minuteness they would think it advisable
to carry the subsequent subdivision.

144. I do not suppose, however, that this is the conclusion which Mr.
Greg is desirous that the general Anti-Christian public should adopt;
and in that case, as I see by his paper in the last number of the
_Contemporary_,[122] that he considers the Christian life itself
virtually impossible, may I recommend his examination of the manners of
the Pre-Christian? For I can certify him that this important subject,
of which he has only himself imperfectly investigated one side, had been
thoroughly investigated on all sides, at least seven hundred years
before Christ; and from that day to this, all men of wit, sense, and
feeling have held precisely the same views on the subjects of economy
and charity, in all nations under the