46 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Altho' these facts can tliroiv little or no liglit 

 on the nattinil history ; the hrtbitiides ot" lil'e ; 

 the charucter, the chrtns^e, the metamorphosis, 

 of this insect, I can't but hope thev will draw 

 the attention of some one better quali.'ieil to pur- 

 sue the research than Flvmotheus. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



SATUllDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1823.. 



Extracts from a work lately published by William 

 CoBBETT, entitled " Cottage Economy,^'' with occa- 

 sional remarks on some of the statements of the au- 

 thor. 



[Continued from page 39.] 



" The man, wl:o is doing well," savs Mr. C. 

 " who is in good health, who has a blooming 

 and dutiful and cheerful and happy family about 

 liim, and v\ho passes his day of rest among 

 them, is not to be made to believe that he was 

 born to be miserable, and that poverty, the cer- 

 tain reward of laziness, is to secure him a crown 

 of glory. Far be it from me to recommend a 

 disregard of even the outward observances of 

 the ceremonies of religion ; but can it be reli- 

 gion to believe that God has made us to be 

 wretched and dejected, and to regard as marks 

 of his grace the poverty' and misery that inva- 

 riably attend our neglect to use the means of 

 obtaining a competence in worldly things ? Can 

 it be religion to regard as blessings those things, 

 those very things, which God expres«ly num- 

 bers amongst his curses? Poverty never finds a 

 place amongst the blessings promised by God. 

 His blessings are of a directly opposite descrip- 

 tion; Hocks, herds, corn, wine and oil; a smil- 

 ing land ; a rejoicing people ; abundance lor 

 the body, and gladness of the heart ; these are 

 blessings which God promises to the industrious, 

 the sober, the careful, and the upright. Lot no 

 man, then, believe, (hat to be poor and wretch- 

 ed is a mark of God's ("avor ; and let no man 

 remain in that state, if he, by any honest means 

 can rescue himself from it. 



"• Poverty leads to all sorts of evil conse- 

 quences. I'/anl, horrid want, is the great par- 

 ent of crime. To liave a dutiful family, thn 

 father's principle of rule must be love and not 

 fear. His sway must he gentle, or he will have 

 an unwilling and short-lived obedience. But it 

 is given to lew men to be gentle and good hu- 

 mored amidst the various torments attendant on 

 pinching poverty. A competence is, therelore, 

 thi! lirst thing to be thought of; it is the foun- 

 dation of all good in the laborer's dwelling; 

 without it little but misery can be expected. 

 " Healthy peace and competences^'' one of the 

 wisest of men regards as the only things needful 

 to men ; but the two tbrmer are scarcely to be 

 had without the latter. Cuinpetcnec is the foun- 

 dation of happiness and of exertion. Beset 

 with wants, having a mind continually harassed 

 with (ears of starvation, who can act with encr- 

 gry, who can calmly thinli. '! To |irnvide a good 

 living \he.rehrv^ lor himself and family, is the 

 tery Jirst dvlij of every man. "Two things," 

 says Agur, " have 1 asked ; deny mo them not 

 before 1 die : remove far from me vanity and 

 lies; give mo neither poverty nor riches; feed 

 me with i'ood convenient for ino : lest 1 be lull 

 and deny thee; or le.st I be poor and steal." 



This is an excellent discourse, and worthy 

 the attention of the siaicsiaun as well as the 



moralist. Poverty causes a people not only to 

 be wretched, bnt to be wicked. Extreme pov- 

 erty is not only the mother of misery but the 

 nurse of crime. A man in very straitened cir- 

 cumstances must be almost more than human if 

 he does not become a misanthrope, a man-hater, 

 " fit for treason, stratagem and spoils." He 

 vents his spleen on every sensible object around 

 him, and every living thing that is so unfortu- 

 nate as to be dependent on him, or within reach 

 of his annoyance, is sure to feel the effect of 

 his savage disposition. Like the arch enemy 

 of mankind he seeks for some alleviation of his 

 own sufferings in causing others to suffer. Pov- 

 erly is no doubt the chief fomenter of the re- 

 bellions and atrocities of the lower orders of 

 the Irish. They feel misery, and wish to in- 

 llict what they feel ; .according to the vulgar 

 bnt correct adage " misery loves company." — 

 If you see a man beating his horse unreasona- 

 bly and unmercifullj', you may generally con- 

 clude that his poverty has at least a share in 

 causing his cruelty. Poverty too is an enemy 

 to economy and a friend to extravagance. The 

 poor man buys dear and sells cheap. He gen- 

 erally buys on trust, and must pay well for the 

 risque the seller runs in trusting him. The 

 poor man sells cheap, because he must raise 

 money to supply his immediate and urgent ne- 

 cessities. He is often extravagant because he 

 is desperate. He sees no prospect of obtaining 

 a comfortable livelihood and maintaining a res- 

 pectable standing in society, and therefore if 

 he obtains a little money, he throws it away on 

 transient, and perhaps criminal gratifications. — 

 " A dollar or two," he says, " will make no ma- 

 terial change for the better in my situation or'.' 



communicates no strength to the body ; it do 

 not, in any degree, assist in aflbrding what labi 

 demands. It is, then, of no use."' 



Mr. Cobbett's precepts are frequently bett 

 than his practical applications of them ; ai 

 much that he says against tea we think qui 

 erroneous, and much more not applicable 

 any class of people above the condition of strc 

 ling beggars, and paupers supported by tl 

 charily of the public. Tea, being a (avori 

 beverage of oui"s, we shall take arms in its b 

 half, even against so formidable a champion 

 Mr. Cobbett. We are sure to have the ladi 

 on oiir side, as well as the more sedate, jm 

 clous and temperate part of our own ses. 



An English work of high authority says " V 

 have heard much of the bad effects of tea, b 

 we have never felt nor observed them. If t 

 were so pernicious as it has been represent 

 by some, its effects must certainly be evident 

 China, where it is drank by all ranks ; yet 

 far from being thought hurtful in that counti 

 it is held in high estimation. We are told 

 those who have written the history of Chii 

 that inflammatory diseases are less freqm 

 there than in many other countries, which 

 ascribed solely to the liberal use of tea." J 

 let lis hear Mr. Cobbett further on this subjj 



" It must be evident to every one that j 

 practice of tea-drinking must render the fr* 

 feeble, and unfit to encounter hard labor oij 

 vere weather, while, as I have shown, it dedH 

 from the means of replenishing the belly I 

 covering of the back. Hence succeeds softni 

 an effeminacy, a seeking after the lire sid( 

 lurking in the bed, and, in short, all the chai 

 teristics of idleness, for which, in this case, i; 

 want ofstrenglh furnishes an apology. Teai 



, , ,^ , ,, , . ms A"* '"^ public lionsc. makes the IrequcB 



prospe<:ls, and therefore I may as well spend it j ^( jj habitual, corrupts boys as soon as Ihej 

 and take the comfort of it." Such is the sug- j able to move from home, and does little le| 

 gestion of poverty, not always expressed in 'the girls to whom the gossip of the tea tan 

 words, but often pfresent in the minds of many "» bad preparatory school for the hrothel.| 

 who are poor, because they are extravagant, 

 and exti:\v;igant because they are poor. Judi- 

 cious precepts and suggestions on rural econo-i requires strength and activity. When th 

 my may save persons of this description from from home, they know how to do nothing tl 



the very least, it leaches them idleness, 

 everlasting dawdling about with the slops 

 tea tackle gives them a relish for nothing/ 



the gulf which awaits them if they proceed in 

 their present courses, and may prove highly 

 useful to the rich as well as the poor, by pro- 

 moting comfort and accommodation, as well as 

 lessening expense. 



Mr. Cobbett commences the body of his work 

 with an essay on " Brewing Beer." It seems 

 (hat family-brewing is not so much practised in 

 Great Britain as formerly, and he tells us that 

 " the drink, which has come to supjily the place 

 of beer has, in general, been tea. It is notori- 

 ous," says Mr. C. " that tea has no useful strength 

 in it ; that it contains nothing nutritious ; thai 

 it, besides being goorf for nodiing, has badness in 

 it, because it is well known to produce want of 

 sleep in many cases, and, in all cases, to sliake 

 and weaken the nerves. It is, in fact, a weaker 

 kind uf laudanum, which enlivens fur the mo- 

 nicut and deadens afterwards. At any rate it 



useful. To brew, to bake, to make butt 

 milk, to roar poultry ; to do any earthly 

 of any use they are wholly unqualified." 



Wc do not perceive how a girPs km 

 how to make tea must prevent her from 1{ 

 ing how " to brew, to bake, to make bulW 

 &.C. But we will now introduce some othSI 

 tagonists of Mr. Cobbett. ^' 



An able writer in the Encyclopedia Bl 

 nica observes that " it must be observed 

 that tea is an antidote against inteinpera7icm ' 

 that he who relishes the one ■will seldom 

 the other. Raynal says that tea has conti 

 more to the sobriety of this nation than the 

 laws, the most eloquent harangues of CAWs/l 

 ators, or thr. best treatises of morality. Wi 

 no doubt but it may be hiirifnl to somi 

 cular constitutions in particular circumi 



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