"Yes; or to get a good dinner, which I suppose they never had; or a carpet, suppose, for the bit of a room they lived in."
"What do you say, Esther?"
"Oh, I think just as Flora does, Uncle Eden. I think those people were very extravagant."
"Maggie?"
"Uncle Eden, I do not know if they were extravagant; but it seems to me they might have kept a little for their own New Year."
"You all overlook one thing."
"What is that, sir?" several voices asked eagerly.
"Those good men were not acting so very contrary to your principle. They were doing, every one of them, what gave him the most pleasure with his money. That is what I understand you to advocate. The only difference is, that they found their pleasure in one thing, and you would find yours in another."
"But, Mr. Murray," Meredith began.
"Yes, Mr. Murray," said Flora eagerly taking the words out of her brother's mouth, "you have really not said anything. The question comes round,—ought we to find our pleasure in what they did, and in nothing else?"