144 On the propriety of a Farmer living 



dence in our clothing. And, yet, strange to tell, few 

 or none of us think of eating and drinking indepen- 

 dently. Is it not a thousand times more ridiculous to 

 send to the East and West Indies for breakfast and 

 supper, than to Europe for clothing ? It would seem 

 as if we were so constituted as to admit but one sub- 

 ject at a time, into our heads, and that one of dire ne- 

 cessity. We are compelled to make our own clothes ; 

 and Providence may, in compassion to our weakness, 

 by cutting us off from foreign luxuries, oblige us to eat 

 our own better victuals. All good men, like Virgil, 

 will be forward and early in promoting a reformation, 

 equally important in private economy and public 

 policy. 



Whatever apology the inhabitants of cities and 

 towns may have, for their obstinate adherence to tea, 

 coffee, &C. surely farmers have none. Their farms 

 furnish much better food, and at a cheaper rate. How 

 then are we to estimate the folly of crossing the ocean 

 at an expense and hazard incalculable, for the sole pur- 

 pose of indulging in articles universally admitted to be 

 injurious to health and destructive of property? A Chi- 

 nese would give ten breakfasts of tea for one of milk. 

 An American farmer purchases tea, at great expense, 

 when he might have plenty of milk and other good 

 things for nothing. Which of these characters disco- 

 vers the wise dictates of native instinct ; and which 

 shews us the depravity of infatuation ? 



But a gentleman farmer, who has plenty of revenues, 

 and mav live as he lists and do as he likes, will answer 

 me, that I reason like an attorney on one side, regard- 

 less of the good sense and general information of my 



