human
We are accustomed to think that nothing can compare with the great landholders of this country and Austria. There are two or three incomes perhaps in Europe, not counting crowned heads, which approach your own, Mr. Beck, but they are saddled. Their owners have great houses to keep up; armies of servants to maintain; estates to nurse; dilapidations to make good; farmers to satisfy; younger sons to provide for; poor people to help by hundreds; and local charities to assist. Why, I do not believe, when all has been provided for, that a great man, say the Duke of Berkshire, with coal-mines and quarries, Scotch, Irish, Welsh, and English estates, has more to put by at the end of the year than many a London merchant.
gpt
That is quite right, said Mr. Beck;
human
What an income! Mr. Cassilis went on.
gpt
Nothing to squander it on. No duties and no responsibilities. No tenants; no philanthropy; no frittering away of capital. You _can't_ spend a tenth part of it on yourself. And the rest accumulates and grows--grows--spreads and grows. He spread out his hands, and a flush of envy came into his cheeks.
human
Mr. Beck, I congratulate you again.
gpt
Thank you, sir.
human
I see, Mr. Beck--you are yet an unmarried man, I believe, and without children--I foresee boundless possibilities. You may marry and found a great family; you may lay yourself out for making a fortune so great that it may prove a sensible influence on the course of events. You may bequeath to your race the tradition of good fortune and the habit of making money.
gpt
My sons may take care of themselves, said Mr. Beck;
human
I want to spend money, not to save it.