"PASSING RICH ON O A YEAR."

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXII, Issue 242, 13 October 1888, Page 4

"PASSING RICH ON O A YEAR."

A minister writing to the * British Weekly ' says:— My clerical income does not quite reaoh £30 a year ; one-tenth of it is set aside for charity and the work of God, and tbe rest keeps us in food and firing. From other Bources I derive a similar amount, and this pays for house rent (£l2 a year), gas, taxes, and olothes. My chapel is two miles from one of our pleasantest cities, and my people are al! poor villagers, with incomes ranging from 15s to 18s per week. Our household till recently, was composed of myself, my wife, and three ohildren, 17, 12, and 9 years old respectively. My wife and elder daughter, of course, keep house themselves, and the the children are taught at horae. We are teetotalers, and almost vegetarians ; indeed, it is only by this mode of living that we can live comfortably on leas than 4|d per head per day. In summer our garden keeps us almost, for we live then mainly on fruit and vegetables; and (except for the organio disease that has recently terminated with my wife's death) tbe general health of our family has been excellent. My wife was a good manager both as regards food and clothes, and knew how to make both go as far as possibK New books are our greatest difficulty. I matte Great Thoughts, and the British Weekly, and an occasional "daily paper suffice for general purposes, with the very rare indulgence of a new book, whioh one feels one must have (some of my brethren will well understand that feeling), and we have all learned to ask ourselves this question before buying anything, " Can I do without it ?" It is astonishing how few real wants ye have and how many fmciedone., We bave proved it is possible to live and live comfortably on much less than _80 a year — indeed on a trifle under £60— and we have always been able to help in a small way any others worse off than ourselves.