iarly English, which has
taken deep root within this last half century, and which has already
produced much evil, and may eventually be productive of more serious
results. I refer to the system of spending more money than you can
afford, to enable you to hold a certain position in the scale of
society.

For these last forty years, during which immense fortunes have been made
in England, there has been a continued struggle of wealth against rank.
_Parvenus_, as the aristocracy have been pleased to call them, have
started up in every direction, vying with, and even eclipsing the
nobility in lavish expenditure--in some instances, driving the
aristocracy to spend more money than they could afford, and thereby
impoverishing them; in others, forcing admittance into their circles.
Wealth and public opinion have latterly gained the ascendency, and the
aristocracy are now more looked up to on account of their large
possessions than of their high birth. Now this has been nothing more
than a demand for greater liberty and more extended rights on the part
of the commoners of England, in proportion as they found themselves a
more important body in the state. It has not been a case of Magna
Charta, but it is still analogous; for they have demanded that the
barrier raised between them and the aristocracy should be thrown down,
as soon as they possessed all the advantages, with the exception of that
nominal rank, the title too often conferred without discrimination on
the one hand or claims on the other. As soon as a partial breach had
been made in this barrier,--every one rushed for admittance, displaying
wealth as their ticket of admission, and the consequence has been, that
wealth has now become the passport into society; but another consequence
has also ensued, which is, that to obtain entrance, almost everybody has
been living and keeping up an appearance which has not been warranted by
their means. Many have exceeded their incomes, and then sunk down into
poverty; others have, perhaps, only lived up to their incomes; but in so
doing, have disappointed those who, induced by the appearance of so much
wealth, have married into the family and discovered that they have
obtained wives with expensive ideas, and no money. But there have been
other reasons which have induced some to live beyond their means--they
have done it in the pure spirit of gambling. In England, credit, next
to money, is of most value, and according to their