"I know," cries Death, "that at the best, I seldom am a welcome guest;

But don't be captious, friend, at least:
I little thought you'd still be able
To stump about your farm and stable;
Your years have run to a great length,
I wish you joy though of your strength.'

"Hold," says the farmer, "not so fast, I have been lame these four years past."

"And no great wonder," death replies, "However you still keep your eyes, And sure to see one's loves and friends, For legs and arms would make amends." "Perhaps," says Dobson, "so it might, But latterly I've lost my sight.'

"This is a shocking story, faith, `

Yet there's some comfort still," says Death; "Ear strives your sadness to amuse,

I warrant you hear all the news."

"There's none," cries he, "And if there were,

I'm grown so deaf I could not hear."

66

"Nay then," the spectre stern rejoin'd,

"These are unjustifi'ble yearnings ;

If you are lame, and deaf, and blind,

You've had your three sufficient warnings.
So come along, no more we'll part,”
He said, and touch'd him with his dart;
And now old Dobson, turning pale,
Yields to his fate-so ends my tale.

-MRS. THRALE.

36. DEBT.

Owe no man anything.

Neither a borrower nor a lender be.

-ST. PAUL.

-SHAKESPEARE.

Do not borrow anything for use, nor run up an account with any person;

In running into debts for expenses, you will meet with buffets.

A debtor lives beyond his income

He becomes very miserable and has to repent bitterly.

When he fails to repay on the promised day, he is dishonoured in public

By the creditor, and nothing can be more disgraceful than that.

-NARMADASHANKAR.*

Debt makes a slave of a man. I have often known what it was to be in want of money, but I never got into debt.

-DUKE OF WELLINGTON.

He is rich who owes nothing.

-ITALIAN PROVERB.

Happy is the man who owes nothing.

A Gujarati poet.

Out of debt, out of danger.

Who goeth a borrowing,

Goeth a sorrowing.

-PROVERB.

-T. TUSSER.

The greatest misfortune is to have physical pain, next to it is indebtedness. Be assured, all others are minor ones.

-DALPATRAM.*

What things increase the more you contract them? Ans.-Debts.

It is astonishing how debts will expand after being contracted.

Never owe any one more than you are able to pay, and allow no man to owe you more than you are able to lose.

A good payer is master of another's purse.

-PROVERB.

A good paymaster is lord of another man's purse.

At some time to borrow, account it no shame,
If justly thou keepest thy touch for the same.
Who quick be to borrow, and slow be to pay,
Their credit is naught, go they never so gay.

-TUSSER.

Credit lost is like a broken looking-glass.

*A Gujarati poet.

The most steadfast followers of one's fortunes are one's creditors.

Time may be money, but it's hard for a man to make .creditors believe it.

A money lender serves you in the present tense; he lends in the conditional mood, keeps you in the subjective, and ruins you in the future.

If

you

wish to recollect a man's name, become security for him.

In dealing uprightly, this counsel I teach,
First reckon, then write, ere to purse ye do reach;
Then pay and dispatch him, as soon as ye can,
For ling'ring is hinderance, to many a man.
-TUSSER.

Live within your means, if you would have the means on which to live.

Do not give caste-dinners by selling your house.

-VÎRVIJAY.*

DON'T RUN IN DEBT.

1. Beware-beware of debt,
Pay down for what you get.
Your clothes are not in style,
But wear them yet awhile;
With brush and needle, you
Can make them "good as new."

A Jain poet.

The head and not the hat,
The heart, not the cravat,
Makes a success of life,

For husband, child, and wife. 2. Debt is a frightful ghost,

Which haunts us when we most
Desire sweet peace to reign
Within the mind's domain.
The floor seems bare and cold,
The furniture is old,

But sweet is sleep on straw,
When comes no fear of law,
And the discourteous dun

For debts that should not run.
3. Don't run in debt, beware!
It is a trap, a snare;
Let fashion put on airs,

You shun its whims and cares.
Fine feathers sometimes make
Fine birds, sometimes they break
The wings in which they 're worn,
Then drooping, soil'd and torn,
The bird in sorrow lies,

Under unpitying skies.

4. The debtor is a slave ;