The Indianapolis daily herald., 1865-11-04

thing which indicates waste of force must always
be melancholy. and there Is nothing that wastes
force 80 frigbttully a. the sordid embarrassment
10 which the man who has spent with too free
hand hnds himself behind in the end. still. one
cannot have much sympathy with the wretch Who
has deliberately thrown himself. and probably
others as WELL into the fatal slough of social des
pond. We lend him the required half sovereign
tor time or two, but with the full conscious
ness OF doing weak thing and for The benefit OF
an eminently undsserving object.
But these are not the people 10 vhom the 10
crease Of the riches of their neighbors Is some
thing like burden. The vicinity OF very wealthy
persons 10 those who have only q comfortable
income does not make the latter extravagsnt or
land them IN insolvency. Ii Affects the margin
Of their income. msking them spend what re
mains after meeting necessary expenses in a way
IN which. but for the example OF those with
margins ever much wider than their own, they
would never have thought Of spending It, A
mans character and the general complexion oil
bis life are mostly decided BY the use 10 which
be puts bis spare money. Within certain limits,
bis style OF living i,es itself That is to say. if
a man has fifteen hundred year, he does not
rent house in Belgrave Square, nor buy great
ancestral mansion in the country With park,
woods and lakes and preserves. Given bis
income. we could predict pretty accurately
What quarter of the town he would live IN,
or il be preferred rural life, what sort OF
house be would have out of town. We know,
too. that he will be pretty sure TO give his chill
dren an education of a cert. ain stamp, and 10
indulge himself and his family with something
in the way of an annual holiday. The example
oil rich people does not much affect sensible man
in the matter of house rent, or OF his chidren's
schooling, and not very powerful IN the duration
or fashion of the autumn trip, which, Tor some
reason or other, has come 10 be looked upon as
being as much a matter of necessity having a
roof over ones head. IL IL when he begins to
think what he shall do with the money which is
left over and above the inevitable expenditure
that the existence of men who return their in
comes at ten or twenty thousand pounds weighs
upon him. De knows very well that he cannot
emulate the doings OF such men, aud he Is not
such a fool az TO make the attempt. But the
mere consciousness that he has margin at all
seems TO place them TO a certain extent IN their
class-in the class OF people who have margins,
and can afford TO please themselves as to what
they do with snug fragment OF their revenue.
Ii Is not 10 be wondered st that, in the maj or
ity of cases, men of moderate means, though
not emulatlng the expenditure OF the rich. can
not help initiating IT, and initiating il very often
in those features which are least worth reproduc
ing on a reduced scale There is nothing. for
instance, which a man OF a sociable turn OF mind
relishes more keenly than to be able to practice
the excellent virtue OF hospitality. A house full
Of pleasant guests, who know and like one an-
other and nave plenty OF intelligent interests
and tastes in common, Is delightful TO think
about To entertain them in due style, and TO
surround them with all sorts of good aud plea
SAINT things, is genuine luxury But il is not a
cheap luxury. Ii implies a large house and
many servants, aud tolerable cook and toll
cradle cellar. The professional man appreciates
all this a. intensely as anybody else. and when
he discovers that il is beyond his reach while
the number OF those who find il within their
reach il yearly increasing. the smsllness of
his margin is burden and vexation TO him.
Perhaps the end of il il that be either sf-
iects a kind and amount of hospitality which
is more than he can fairly compass, and
wastes what he has TO spare in stupid and
uncomfortable Efforts after muni6cence and
grandeur, or else. because be cannot afford
champagne at the y ew York price of guinea a
bottle, he declines TO ask his friends TO the more
modest vintage of Bordeaux So, like the Times
correspondent. he groans and curses the fate OF
the man with moderate means. Then others
cOvet their rich neighbors horses and carriages.
The carriages are more gorgeous, and the horses
of better breed each year, "a the capital turns
itself over and profits wax fatter. And Just in
proportion do the horses of the poor man seem to
become more weedy, with his trap more mean.
The margins will not keep any sort of pace to-
gether. And the moderate man, as he sees the
splendid mounts and superb turn-onts, il he has
any sourness ia him. comes actually to hate his
single hunter and his hack and bis brougham.
Or, If he does not hate what goods he has be-
cause they are not the best, az all events he is
asare OF the widening gulf between the enjoy
ments he can have aud those which have fallen
to the lot of men who started as low down as be
did lie thinks that every thing has become
dearer than il used to be, that life ID a more
costly business than be was once won't to fancy
it. The simple truth "a, that wealth and
wealthy people have increased A more
costly standard has been reached. mod
crate mans wants have spread more extensively
into tho region of costly commodities. Long
ago the price of champagne would scarcely have
concerned him more than the price of diamonds
and emeralds concern him now. But men with
whom he associates and who return their income
az FIVE or ten thousand year, do not shrink
from paying heavy prices for their wine. In
sensbly be il led into the way OF looking At
things in a certain measure from their point of
view He is wise enough not TO launch out with
them in purchasing expensive Injuries. but he
bemosns what he considers the growing expense
Of living like q gentleman. Ii would be more
correct say that the notion of what constitutes
this sort of life has grown. Whether this growth
has been altogether in desirable direction is a
very different question.