sun. It is of no consequence
whether Mr. Greg chooses the experience of Boeotia, Lombardy, or
Yorkshire, nor whether he studies the relation of work to-day or under
Hesiod, Virgil, or Sydney Smith. But it is desirable that at least he
should acquaint himself with the opinions of some such persons, as well
as with those of the Common Councilmen of New York; for though a man of
superior sagacity may be pardoned for thinking, with the friends of Job,
that Wisdom will die with him, it can only be through neglect of the
existing opportunities of general culture that he remains distinctly
under the impression that she was born with him.

145. It may perhaps be well that in conclusion, I should state briefly
the causes and terms of the economical crisis of our own day, which has
been the subject of the debate between Mr. Goldwin Smith and Mr. Greg.

No man ever became, or can become, largely rich merely by labor and
economy.[123] All large fortunes (putting treasure-trove and gambling
out of consideration) are founded either on occupation of land, usury,
or taxation of labor. Whether openly or occultly, the landlord,
money-lender, and capitalist employer, gather into their possession a
certain quantity of the means of existence which other people produce by
the labor of their hands. The effect of this impost upon the condition
of life of the tenant, borrower, and workman, is the first point to be
studied;--the results, that is to say, of the mode in which Captain
Roland fills his purse.

Secondly, we have to study the effects of the mode in which Captain
Roland empties his purse. The landlord, usurer, or labor-master, does
not, and cannot, himself consume all the means of life he collects. He
gives them to other persons, whom he employs for his own behoof--growers
of champagne, jockeys, footmen, jewelers, builders, painters, musicians,
and the like. The division of the labor of these persons from the
production of food to the production of articles of luxury is very
frequently, and at the present day, very grievously the cause of famine.
But when the luxuries are produced, it becomes a quite separate question
who is to have them, and whether the landlord and capitalist are
entirely to monopolize the music, the painting, the architecture, the
hand-service, the horse-service, and the sparkling champagne of the
world.

146. And it is gradually, in these days, becoming manifest to the
tenants, borrowers, and laborers, that in