ickster! A freedom from debt, and what nourishing
sweetness may be found in cold water; what toothsomeness in a dry crust;
what ambrosial nourishment in a hard egg! Be sure of it, he who dines
out of debt, though his meal be a biscuit and an onion, dines in 'The
Apollo.' And then, for raiment, what warmth in a threadbare coat, if the
tailor's receipt be in your pocket! What Tyrian purple in the faded
waistcoat, the vest not owed for; how glossy the well-worn hat, if it
covers not the aching head of a debtor! Next, the home sweets, the
outdoor recreation of the free man. The street door falls not a knell in
his heart, the foot on the staircase, though he lives on the third pair,
sends no spasm through his anatomy; at the rap of his door he can crow
'come in,' and his pulse still beats healthfully. See him abroad! How
he returns look for look with any passenger. Poverty is a bitter
draught, yet may, and sometimes can with advantage, be gulped down.
Though the drinker makes wry faces, there may, after all, be a wholesome
goodness in the cup. But debt, however courteously it may be offered, is
the Cup of Siren; and the wine, spiced and delicious though it be, is
poison. My son, if poor, see Hyson in the running spring; see thy mouth
water at a last week's roll; think a threadbare coat the only wear; and
acknowledge a whitewashed garret the fittest housing-place for a
gentleman; do this, and flee debt. So shall thy heart be at rest, and
the sheriff confounded."

"Whoever has sixpence is sovereign over all men to the extent of that
sixpence," says Carlyle; "commands cooks to feed him, philosophers to
teach him, kings to mount guard over him,--to the extent of that
sixpence."

If a man owes you a dollar, he is almost sure to owe you a grudge, too.
If you owe another money, you will be apt to regard him with uncharitable
eyes. Why not economize before getting into debt instead of pinching
afterwards?

Communities which live wholly from hand to mouth never make much progress
in the useful arts. Savings mean power. _Comfort and independence abide
with those who can postpone their desires._

"Hunger, rags, cold, hard work, contempt, suspicion, unjust reproach, are
disagreeable," says Horace Greeley, "but debt is infinitely worse than
them all."

Many a ruined man dates his downfall from the day when he began borrowing
money. Debt demoralized Daniel Webster, and Theodore Hook, and Sheridan,
and Fox, and Pitt.