profit, says Solomon. What is the science of Political Economy, but a
dull sermon on this text?"--_Samuel Laing_.

"God provides the good things of the world to serve the needs of nature,
by the labours of the ploughman, the skill and pains of the artizan, and
the dangers and traffic of the merchant.... The idle person is like one
that is dead, unconcerned in the changes and necessities of the world;
and he only lives to spend his time, and eat the fruits of the earth:
like a vermin or a wolf, when their time comes they die and perish, and
in the meantime do no good."--_Jeremy Taylor_.

"For the structure that we raise,
Time is with materials filled;
Our to-days and yesterdays
Are the blocks with which we build."--_Longfellow_.

* * * * *

Thrift began with civilization. It began when men found it necessary to
provide for to-morrow, as well as for to-day. It began long before money
was invented.

Thrift means private economy. It includes domestic economy, as well as
the order and management of a family.

While it is the object of Private Economy to create and promote the
well-being of individuals, it is the object of Political Economy to
create and increase the wealth of nations.

Private and public wealth have the same origin. Wealth is obtained by