The second great discouragement to saving in England is the English contempt for small sums of money. “The Englishman,” says Bagehot, “bows down before a great heap and sneers when he passes a little heap.” The sneer is perhaps more frequent than the bow. The mention of a small fortune often excites a smile. And the heap need not be a very little one to be sneered at. You may be almost ridiculous for having an income that places you far above want. Three hundred a year is an income that seems really amusing to the well-constituted English mind. I myself have heard a man with five hundred a year called a “beggar,” and have seen people smile good-humouredly at more than twice as much. The consequence is that unless an Englishman has the natural instinct of avarice he may think, “What is the good of saving when all I can put by will only be contemptible?” [Sidenote: Thrift not always general in France.] [Sidenote: Grévy and Carnot.] It is worth noting, as a contrast, that the idea of thrift has not always been general in France. The present French rural aristocracy is thrifty; but the old ideal of a French nobleman included largeness and even prodigality in money matters, which led to the ruin of many a noble house. To be careful and exact was, in the old days, a middle-class virtue, the consequence being that there are so many _nouveaux riches_ in France at the present day. Even now it is not thought well to be too thrifty in high situations. That was President Grévy’s fault; President Carnot saves nothing out of his allowance, and is liked for it. The millions claimed by the Orleans family seemed to them a good kind of ballast in troubled waters, but they sank the royal ship. [Sidenote: An Example of French Carefulness.] The following may be taken as a rather extreme example of French carefulness. I knew an old bachelor who had £800 a year and not at all an ungenerous disposition, but he enjoyed making little savings. He drove frequently to the neighbouring town, and was quite delighted with an arrangement he made there, by which he was allowed to put up his pony for a penny a time on condition that he harnessed it himself and that the animal had nothing to eat. The pony was avenged by the old gentleman’s cook, who was thriftier even than her master, and kept him on short commons. [Sidenote: Effects of Extreme Thrift.] [Sidenote: Tradesmen and Thrifty Customers.]