Various

“ Subterfuge, lying, and loss of liberty, are not all the miseries of a conscious debtor: in the world he resembles a prisoner at large; he walks many circuitous miles to avoid being dunned, and would sooner meet a mad dog than an angry creditor. He lives in a sort of abeyance, and sinks under shame when caught enjoying an undue luxury. In short, he is cramped in all his enjoyments, and considers his fellow, out of debt, as great as the emperor of the celestial empire, after whose repast other kings may dine. ”

“ There are others who scorn such compunctious visitations, and set all laws of conscience at defiance. They press into their service all the aids of cunning, and travel on byroads of the world till they are bronzed enough for its highway. Their memories are like mirrors, and their debts like breathings on them, which vanish the same moment they are produced. They look on mankind as a large family, and the world as a large storehouse, or open house, where they have a claim proportioned to their wants. ”

“ A great part of the city, however, stands upon the steep declivity of a very high hill; houses rising over houses, so that, to the eye, they seem supported by one another. Below, commerce almost covers the clear waters of the Baltic with a tall forest of masts; while far above, and crowning the whole, stands the commanding church of St. Catherine. From the top of this the eye is at first lost in the boundless prospect of forest, lake, and sea, spreading all around: it then looks down upon Stockholm, intersected in all directions by water; the royal palace ”

“ Nothing but an earlier discipline can improve us; for so habitual is debt, that the boy who forestals his pocket-money uses it as a step-ladder to mortgaging his estate. The sufferers, in such cases, are generally shut up in prisons or poor-houses, to afflict or console each other as their sensibilities may direct; and thus the salutary lessons, which their condition might afford, is lost to the world. Neither are such scenes of real misery courted by mankind ”

“ Bradshaw. "If you had attended to what was addressed to you by the court upon your arrival, you would know in what this authority consisted. It calls upon you, in the name of the people of England, of whom you were elected king, to make a reply."
The King. "No sir, I deny this."
Bradshaw. "If you refuse to acknowledge the authority of the court, it will proceed against you."
The King. "I maintain that England never was an elective kingdom; for nearly the space of a thousand years it has been altogether an hereditary one. Let me know, then, by what authority I am summoned here. ”

“ The palace at Stockholm is the redeeming grace of that city.—Stockholm "not being able to boast any considerable place or square, nor indeed any street wider than an English lane; the exterior of the houses is dirty, the architecture shabby, and all strikes as very low and confined. Yet the palace must be excepted; and that is commanding, and in a grand and simple taste." Such is the description of Stockholm by Sir Robert Ker Porter ”

“ The horrors of dependance, in all its afflicting shapes, are known to visit them hourly, although in some instances, buoyancy of spirits, and affected gaiety may enable them to appear happy; and ofttimes would they be awakened to a sense of these fallacies, and thus become reformed, were it not for the rigour of persecution, which renders them reckless of all that may ensue, and callous to the honourable distinctions of man. This of a truth, is tampering with human weakness, and is too often known to prove the upshot of industry, by sacrificing principle to vindictive passion. ”

“ The inhabitant of South America enjoys a soil and a climate, not superior merely to our own, but combining all the advantages of every climate and soil possessed by the remainder of the world. His valleys have all the exuberance of the tropics, and his mountain-plains unite the temperature of Europe to a fertility of which Europe offers no example. Nature collects for him, within the space of a morning's walk, the fruits and vegetables which she has elsewhere separated by thousands of miles. ”

“ I am much disposed to extol the virtues of malt liquors. When properly fermented, well hopped, and of a moderate strength, they are refreshing, wholesome, and nourishing. It is a common observation, that those who drink sound malt liquors are stronger than those who drink wine; and to those who are trained to boxing, and other athletic exercises, old home-brewed beer is particularly recommended, drawn from the cask, and not bottled. ”

“ We may there see the rapacious creditor at the same goal with the unfortunate debtor, whom he has hunted through life, supplicating mercy which he never exercised, and vainly attempting to recant a course of cruelty and persecution, by mixing up his merited sufferings with the distresses of his abused companions.
Goldsmith has said, that "every man is the architect of his own fortune;" and perhaps there are few men, who, in the moments of their deepest suffering, have not felt the force of this assertion. ”

“ The moment you shake hands with them, you feel in the firm flesh of palm and finger that their heart's blood circulates purely and freely from the point of the highest hair on the apex of the pericranium, to the edge of the nail on the large toe of the right foot. Their eyes are as clean as unclouded skies—the apples on their cheeks are like those on the tree—what need, in either case, of rubbing off dust or dew with a towel? ”

“ Such a change may, however, empower him to adjust his conscience with men, of all satisfaction the most valuable; notwithstanding that the world is readier to exaggerate error, than recognise such sterling principle. It is alike obvious, that men who are under the stigma of debt, do not enjoy that ease which they are commonly thought to possess. ”

“ Debts of fashion, or those contracted in high life, are usually the most unjust, probably the result of honesty being more a virtue of necessity than of choice, and of the disgraceful system of imposing on the extravagant and wealthy. Experience, it is granted, is a treasure which fools must purchase at a high price; but however largely we may hold possession of that commodity, it will not excuse that scheme of bare-weight honesty, which some are apt to make the standard of their dealings with the rich. ”

“ That a system of debt is identified with the existence and framework of all commercial republics, is well known; else, genius would cease to be fostered, enterprise would be cramped, and industry wither on her own soil. ”

“ Mr. A. de Capell Brooke, who visited Stockholm in the summer of 1820, describes the palace as "a beautiful and conspicuous object, its walls washed by the Baltic."—It is square, on an elevated [pg 242] ground, has a spacious court in the centre, and is in every respect worthy a royal residence. Near the entrance are two large bronze lions, which are admirably executed. "The view of the palace from the water," says Sir R.K. Porter, "reminds us of Somerset House, though it far exceeds the British structure in size, magnificence, and sound architecture." ”

“ Sound strong beer is very nutritious and wholesome; indeed, it is generally considered more nourishing than wine. It is a most useful drink to the weak, the lean, and the laborious, provided they are not very subject to flatulency, nor troubled with disorders of the breast. If taken in moderate quantity, and of the best quality, it will often be found of great service to the invalid, in assisting to restore his strength, spirits, and flesh. It should be drunk from the cask; bottled beer being more likely to disagree with the stomach, and to produce flatulency. ”

“ A man of family, partly from indiscretion, and from various other causes, becomes embarrassed; the clamours of his creditors soon magnify his luxuries, but not a word is said about their innumerable extortions, in the shape of commissions, percentages, and other licensed modifications of cheatery, nor are they reckoned to the advantage of the debtor. These may be practices of experience, custom, and money-getting, but they are not rules of conscience. In truth, there is not a more painful scene than the ruin of a young man of family. ”

“ Of times gone by, we must not here speak; because the amor patriæ its has long since shifted to amor nummi, and naked honesty has learned the decency of dress. There have been profligates in all ages; but the world, though sometimes a severe master, ruins as many by its deceitful indulgence, as by its ill-timed severity. Good fellows are usually the worst treated by the world allowing them to go beyond their tether, and then cutting them off out of harm's way. ”

“ To us, as Englishmen, it is of still deeper interest to inquire whether the causes of our superiority are still in operation, and whether their force is capable of being increased or diminished; whether England has run her full career of wealth and improvement, but stands safe where she is ”

“ No man can answer for the effects of the stuff usually sold as beer; and we know strong ale is always difficult of digestion.
Strong ale is, undoubtedly, the most nutritive of all malt liquors, but being digested with greater difficulty than the other sorts, it cannot with propriety be taken but by those who are strong, and who use much active exercise. The best ale is made from fine pale malt, and with hops of the finest quality. ”

“ On the morrow at the opening of the sitting, sixty-two members being present, the court ordered strict silence to be observed under pain of imprisonment. On his arrival, however, the king was not the less received with marked applause. The same sort of discussion commenced, and with equal obstinacy on both sides. "Sir," at length, exclaimed Bradshaw, "neither you, nor any other person shall be permitted to question the jurisdiction of this court. It sits by authority of the Commons of England—an authority to which both you and your predecessors are to be held responsible." ”

“ At the same time it will be our object to concentrate or condense from all other authentic sources such new facts in science as are connected with the arts of social life, and which from being scattered through elaborate and expensive works, might thereby be lost to some portion of our readers. In short, popular discoveries in science, or all such new facts as bear on the happiness of society will be the objects of our choice ”

“ I see no Lords here necessary to constitute a parliament. A king, moreover, is essential to it. Now is this what is meant [pg 249] by bringing the king to meet his parliament?"
Bradshaw. "Sir, the court awaits a definitive answer from you. If what we have stated respecting our authority does not satisfy you, it is sufficient for us, we know that it is founded upon the authority of God and of the country." ”

“ On the contrary, a walk through those receptacles of human woe, and the little histories of their inmates, will often furnish as many lessons of morality and world-knowledge as will suffice us for life. ”

“ We have seen as much of what is most ignorantly and malignantly denominated dirt—one week's earth—washed off the feet of a pretty young girl on a Saturday night, at a single sitting, in the little rivulet that runs almost round about her father's hut, as would have served a cockney to raise his mignionette in, or his crop of cresses. ”

“ Now, were such persons to change their linen every half hour night and day, that is, were they to put on forty-eight clean shirts in the twenty-four hours,—and it would not be reasonable, perhaps, to demand more of them,—yet though we cheerfully grant that one and all of the shirts would be dirty, we as sulkily deny that at any given moment from sunrise to sunset, and over again, the wearer would be clean. ”

“ As it abounds with carbonic acid gas, or fixed air, it is the most useful diluent for labourers, because it cools the body, abates thirst, and, at the same time, stimulates very moderately the animal powers. Small beer, when stale and hard, is unwholesome to all persons. ”

“ Malt liquors are divided into small beer, strong beer, ale, and porter. Small beer is best calculated for common use, being less heating and stimulating than other malt liquors. When used soft and mild, after having been thoroughly fermented and purified, it forms an excellent diluent with food, more especially at dinner. ”

“ A wash-hand basin—a bit of soap—and a coarse towel—he thought would give a cockney on Ludgate-hill a clean skin—just as many good people think that a Bible, a prayer-book, and a long sermon can give a clear conscience to a criminal in Newgate. The cause of the evil, in both cases, lies too deep for tears. Millions of men and women pass through nature to eternity clean-skinned and pious—with slight expense either in soap or sermons ”

“ There is a general prejudice against beer in the case of the bilious and the sedentary, but it appears to me without sufficient foundation. Bilious people are such as have weak stomachs and impaired digestion, and those who are sedentary are nearly, in these respects, always in a similar state. Now, I have not observed that beer tends to weaken such stomachs, or to become ascescent, or otherwise to disagree with them ”

“ Now such persons do not know that they are dirty—that they are unclean beasts. On the contrary, they often think themselves pinks of purity—incarnations of carnations—impersonations of moss-roses—the spiritual essences of lilies, "imparadised in form of that sweet flesh." ”

“ Street, of Biel, in East Lothian, has recently made some successful attempts at acclimatizing, or giving to exotic plants greater powers of withstanding cold than they had when first introduced. By planting in situations well drained from superfluous moisture, under circumstances where rapid growth was rendered impracticable, and in a garden admirably adapted to the object from its position, he has succeeded in naturalizing, in latitude 56° N. plants which have not yet been known to endure the winters even of the parallel of London.—Quarterly Journal of Science. ”

“ The answer to all these questions must be sought in the science which teaches in what wealth consists, by what agents it is produced, and according to what laws [pg 252] it is distributed, and what are the institutions and customs by which production may be facilitated, and distribution regulated, so as to give the largest possible amount of wealth to each individual. ”