Page:The Poor Rich Man, and the Rich Poor Man.djvu/36

28 by the result of his labour; and, communicating his purpose to his two confidential friends, his parents (most happy are those children who make their parents the depositaries of their secrets); he received their consent and approbation. They were consistent Christians, and thought that active goodness enriched their child far more than money, or even than education, which they held to be next best to virtue. The contract was made with the bookseller, and the fifty dollars, an immense sum to him that earned it, and to her who received it, estimated by the painstaking of the one, and the relief and gratitude of the other, were appropriated to the expenses of the New-York journey.

Those who travel the world over seeking pleasures that have ceased to please; going, as some one has said, from places where no one regrets them, to places where no one expects them, can hardly conceive of the riches of a poor person, who, having fifty dollars to spend on the luxury of a journey, feels the worth of every sixpence expended in a return of either advantage or enjoyment.

If any of my readers have chanced to hear a gentleman curse his tailor, who has sent home, at the last moment, some new exquisite articles of apparel for a journey, when they were found to be a hair's breadth too tight or too loose; or if they have assisted at the perplexed deliberations of a fine lady as to the colour and material of her new dresses and new hat, and have witnessed her vexations with dressmakers and milliners, we invite them to peep into the dwelling of our young friends, and witness the actual happiness resulting