day, 2s. per week, amounting in the year to 51. 4s. for the use of I., and, perhaps, twice the value of the watch; while the poor woman paid at the rate of 6d. per week for the use of 4.d.!!! [This article is illustrated by the Plate of our last Number.] UPON DRUNKENNESS. (Concluded from p. 67.) Example in this case costs nothing, either in the way of money or of personal exertion. It is merely an abstaining from that which is in itself unnatural. It is recommended also by economy, by a love of domestic peace, and by a desire to consult the convenience, and to promote the happiness of a family. Drinking and carousing is not productive of cheerfulness; and it is cheerfulness, and not boisterous mirth, that we ought to desire for our inmate. Nobody is so dull as the day-before drunkard; no mansion so gloomy as that which beholds the morrow of a feast"Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken ;" but the next morning, when the wine was got out of Nabal, his heart died withia him, and he beacame dead as a stone. This is the true picture of the two states of the drunkard, and well represents the effects of drinking and carousing in a family. Therefore, even as relating to the management and the happiness of a household, an abstinence from drinking strong drink, or any thing which intoxicates, is a duty. And when the effect upon children is taken into view, how sacred is their duty! Many are the parents who, under afflictions occasioned by a son addicted to drunkenness; many are such parents, who, after fruitless attempts at reclaiming him, after vain endeavours to disguise the cause of their troubles from the world, confess, in the bitterness of their sorrow, that it would have been better had they followed him to the grave at a moment when perhaps they were shedding tears of joy at his recovery from some dangerous disease. And, if such parents have well and truly discharged their duty towards him, unfeeling indeed must be the heart that can refrain from participating in their sorrow. But, if his boyish days have been spent amidst scenes of drinking; if the parents have made him a hearer of glees and songs in praise of the heroes of the bottle; if the decanter have been the companion of the daily domestic repasts of his youth; if, by his own parents, his natural appetite have thus been perverted; if, by them, he have been initiated in the school of drinking, their sorrows are the natural consequence and the just punishment of their own disregard of duty towards him. There are few crimes, few offences against morals, which do not, in the end, bring their own punishment even in this world. The thief, the robber, the murderer, each usually receives his due, in one way or another, Lefore he be called to commune with the worms. But the punish ment of the drunkard is not only certain to follow the offence, but it follows it immediately. That which he swallows for what he calls his pleasure, brings the pain as surely as the night brings the morning. Poverty and misery are in the train, a disgraceful and loathsome state of existence closes the scene, and when the besotted and bloated body is at last committed to the earth, not a tear, not a sigh is drawn forth even from parents or children. It has been deemed a subject of deep lamentation when death is unaccompanied with the solicitudes of friends and relations. There is scarcely a human being so unfortunate as not to leave some one to regret that he is no more. But the drunkard makes no void in society, except that of fanuisance, the removal of which is calculated to excite no other feeling than that of satisfaction. PUBLIC BAKERS, AND BREAD (Continued from p. 70.) Boil a bushel of the coarsest bran for about an hour, in six or seven gallons of water (keeping it well stirred, that it may not stick to the copper); then pour off the whole into a trough or tube perforated full of holes, over which may be laid a coarse cloth, to act as a sieve. On the top of the whole should be placed a wooden cover, having a heavy weight placed thereon, to press out all the liquor from the bran, which will then be left at the bottom of the tub, in a thick pulp. The liquor that will be expressed, will contain all the essential oil of the corn, and will be of the consistency of paste, having a very agreeable taste and smell, similar to the milk which is found in green corn. The next thing to be done, is, to apply this liquor or mixture to the purpose of making the dough, being careful not to mix raw water therewith, as it would set the mixture. The proper quantity of bread being made, it will be found to weigh, when completely baked, full one-third more than the same quantity of flour, made simply with water in the usual manner. To domestic establishments in the country, where corn is sent to the mill from the consumer, this method is peculiarly adapted; and it is quite unnecessary to make any calculation, or to point out the saving to the public, even by a partial adoption of the plan. Were it generally carried into effect, it would be equal to bringing six thousand acres of land into the cultivation of bread corn. BREAD MADE OF ICELAND MOSS, WITH FLOUR. Of late years, Iceland moss has been used (either alone or mixed with flour), in the composition of bread, in those districts where flour does not exist plentifully. The authorities of Saxony published a report upon the subject, in which we are informed that 7 lbs. of lichen meal boiled with fourteen times its quantity of water, and baked in this state with 59 lbs. of flour, produced 1114 lbs. of good household bread. Without this addition, the flour would not have produced more than 783 lbs. of bread. To prepare this bread on a smaller scale, use the following quantities It is known that three pounds of flour yield four pounds of household bread; one pound of lichen meal, added in the form of paste, will give an addition of nearly six pounds, and therefore is equivalent in this view to about 3 lbs. of flour, because it affords above 3 times more bread. Note.-Nearly all the Iceland moss collected in Germany, is sent to England, where it is used in brewing, and in the composition of ship-biscuit. Biscuit which contains it as a constituent part, is not attacked by worms, and suffers little from the action of sea-water. This lichen, when deprived of its bitter principle, forms an excellent soup; and when coagulated, a good jelly. HOUSEHOLD GOODS AND FUel. A In household goods, the warm, the strong, the durable, ought always to be kept in view-oak tables, bedsteads, and stools, chairs of oak or of yew-tree, and never a bit of miserable deal board. Things of this sort ought to last several life-times. labourer ought to inherit from his great grandfather something besides his toil. As to bedding, and other things of that sort, all ought to be good in their kind, of a durable quality, and plain in their colour and form. The plates, dishes, mugs, and things of that description, should be of pewter, or even of wood. Any thing is better than crockery-ware. Bottles to carry afield should be of wood. Formerly, nobody but the gipsies and mumpers, that went a hop-picking in the season, carried glass or earthen bottles. As to glass of any sort, we do not know what business it has in any man's house, unless he be rich enough to live on his means. It pays a tax, in many cases, to the amount of two-thirds of its cost. In short, when a house is once furnished with sufficient goods, there ought to be no renewal of hardly any part of them wanted for half an age, except in case of destruction by fire. Good management in this way leaves the man's wages to provide an abundance of good food and good raiment; and these are the things that make happy families. Fuel should be, if possible, provided in summer, or at least some of it. Turf and peat must be got in summer, and some wood may. In the woodland countries, the next winter ought to be thought of in June, when people hardly know what to do with the fuel wood; and something should, if possible, be saved in the bark harvest to get a part of the fuel for the next winter. Fire is a capital article. To have no fire, or a bad fire to sit by, is a most dismal thing. In such a state man and wife must be something out of the common way to be in good humour with each other, to say nothing of colds and other ailments which are the natural consequence of such misery. If we suppose the great Creator to condescend to survey his works in detail, what object can be so pleasing to him as that of the labourer, after his return from the toil of a cold winter day, sitting with his wife and children round a cheerful fire, while the wind whistles in the chimney, and the rain pelts the roof? But of all God's creation, what is so miserable to behold or to think of as a wretched, half-starved family creeping to their nest of flocks or straw, there to lie shivering, till sent forth by the fear of absolutely expiring from want? MUSTARD. (From Cobbett's Cottage Economy), Why buy this, when you can grow it in your garden? The stuff you buy is half drugs, and is injurious to health. A yard square of ground, sown with common mustard, the crop of which you will grind for use, in a little mustard-mill, as you want it, would save you some money, and probably save your life. Your mustard would look brown instead of yellow; but the former colour is as good as the latter: and as to the taste, the real mustard has certainly a much better flavour than that of the drugs and flour which go under the name of mustard. Let any one try it, and I am sure he will never use the drugs again. The drugs, if you take them freely, leave a burning at the pit of your stomach, which the real mustard does not. ANNALS OF GULLING N° VI. [We mentioned in our former Num bers the names of Mather and Company, and Bond and Company, by misinformation; and in our last are inserted two letters from these FIRMS: now, agreeably to the request of these letters, we FULLY AND DISTINCTLY STATE, that the names of the concerns are not "Mather and Company," but BLADTHER AND COMPANY; and not Bond and Company, but BONDY AND COMPANY.] THE BILL CONCERN-KITE FLYING -BLADTHER AND BONDY. Into the heart of London commerce there has crept a worm of the most noxious nature; and when the honest finger of truth pointed out to us the reptile in his deep cover, we could scarcely credit our eyes-so subtile seemed his poisonous power, so dangerous his devastation. A company of unprincipled adventurers have set up, and carried on for more than nine months a bill-accepting trade, by which the honest holder of such kites will find but a single plank between him and the depth of destruction! We are not writers who mean to mince matters in a cause of public philanthropy. We do not mean to give blanks or initials and obscure hints in cases of public fraud. We mean to speak out, and to stand by what we speak. The system we allude to, is carried on under the name of BLADTHER AND Co., and a more artful plan perhaps never was invented to gull the public, and scarcely a more extensive success has ever followed the inventions of knavery. That respectable banking-house of W. Bond and Co., of Change-alley, is well known to the commercial world as a staunch firm. In this bank the Bladther and Co. people have opened an account for the purpose of referring their gulls to, in case of doubt. Now mark!--They have set up a title of Bondy and Co. (no such people existing), and by making bills, particularly foreign bills, payable at this Bondy's office, those to whom the bills are offered, believe that they are payable at the Banker's, the names being so similar. And if they should write to the banking-house to inquire, they find that the Bladther and Co. have an account there! Now, their business is professedly to accept bills to any amount, for any person who is regularly introduced by a customer already doing business with them; that is, by an old kiteflyer; and for this acceptance of the Bladther and Co., or the Bondy and Co. (for they are all one) they charge from seven to ten per cent! This purchase of their acceptance places them under no risk whatever; for they tell the parties, that they must be prepared to take up the bill, for they will not. Now, one would imagine, that Bladther and Co., or Bondy and Co. would be liable for the amount of those bills, in case they were not paid by the drawer; and so they would if they existed: but they do not exist; they are as subtile as the empyrean ether, and as impossible to be embodied. Should any of the bills thus accepted, be called for at their counting-houses, no person is to be seen but a clerk, a Mr. John Noaks, or his cousin, Mr. Peter Styles, one with a bald head, and a Jonathan countenance, nodding like the mock Chinese mandarin on Ludgate-hill, with all the solemn humbuggery of an "old file," Bladther and Co! Bondy and Co.! Why you might as well expect to find the longitude as these imaginaries! Yet, perhaps, the person who politely tells you that "Mr. Bladther is not in town," is, to all intents and purposes, the mock proprietor ! -- When a customer is introduced to this invisible Company, the bill is taken into the back office, and "the clerk" with the bald head solemuly informs the gull, that Mr. Bladther will accept it, and he may call for it to-morrow, not forgetting a request to be provided with ten per cent for the acceptance. In order to satisfy ourselves of the humbug as far as we could, we paid a visit the other day to the "counting-house" of these aerials. On turning the button of the door rather abruptly, we perceived an evident embarrassment to appear busy; all the eyes of the "clerks" were riveted to their papers. The office was small, and nearly filled by a huge dromedary desk, behind which the bald secretary sat, attentive to his calling his eyes fixed upon a well-displayed ledger. Thrice we demanded if Mr. Bladther was at home; and thrice the man of reckoning would not hear, so profound was he in commercial thinking. On the fourth application, however, he gravely placed his pen behind his ear, and leaning upon his hand, pompously demanded, "What is your business, Sir?" On being informed that we wanted to see the Bladther, or the Bondy, he said, that they were 66 expected in half an hour;" and turning to a kind of jackall at the other side, whispered, "Did he go out in the carriage?" "No," answered the knowing listener," he is just stepped out to Lloyd's, to receive that 5,000l." Our risible muscles here gave us a twitch; and it was not until the application of a large Bandanna to our nostrils, that we were perfectly composed. We departed, and we called again in half an hour. We again however departed without seeing the Bladther, and again called with as little success; and had we been departing and calling, and calling and departing from that hour until this, we should have seen no other person, save the wigless secretary and his knowing jackalls! We now come to the dangers which threaten many of our merchants, as well as those of other countries, emanating from this mock house. There are no less than 40,000l. worth of their acceptances now in the clothmanufacturing districts, and nearly double that sum gone out to LisLon!!! Will they be paid? Heaven only knows. If the drawers do not provide for them, the Bladther and Co. will not, neither will the Bondy. What, then, is the mischief which may occur? It. is awful to contemplate it. If such acceptances had been only given to men who could, and were disposed to pay their bills when due, Bladther and Co. might be passed over without comment; but does not the system admit of adventuring sharks, who, if they can raise the money upon the acceptance, will become as invisible and as rotten as the accepter? It is a dreadful evil, and we trust that our exposé will cut it short, at least prevent it doing further mischief. The fellows who "started" this "concern" have their country-houses, and drive their tilburies; and well they may, for 10 per cent upon the sum now out, makes a handsome provision for such luxuries. They have so contrived it, that all the bills shall become due at the same time; for instance, when they first set up, they accepted bills of twelve months date, then nine months, and so on, shortening the period as the time passed; and now, as the year is within two or three months of being expired, they will not accept bills at a longer date than two or three months. So that in case the bills be not paid, the Bladther and the Bondy change their names and their counting-houses, to begin again their work of roguery. One of the partners said to a person who was introduced to the "concern some time ago, "I tell you what, Mr. , you might, with your house and appearances, get rid of thousands!!" These were his very words. The offer, however, was declined to so large an amount, and only a fifty pounds' acceptance taken, which of course was paid; but had the person been a rogue, he might have put into his pocket, out of honest tradesmen's hard earnings, thousands of pounds!!! There's a precious "business" for you! To the Editor of The Economist. SIR;-This day I have been reading No. III. of "The Economist." I was surprised to see an incident that Newark, To the Editor of The Economist. SIR;-Being early thrown among men, and accustomed by times to think for myself, I have acquired a habit of always looking to the motives which actuate mankind in general; and the result of these observations has been, a firm conviction, that a large proportion of those who profess to act entirely from disinterested views and a regard for public welfare, are influenced by private interest and personal considerations. This belief has been greatly confirmed by several articles in The Economist, dictated, I fear, more by present irritation than by a laudabie anxiety for public good: not, Sir, that I mean to detract from the merit of your publication-far |