to give the act its gentlest
appellation; and I regret to add, it is accompanied by certain
circumstances which rather heighten than lessen the delinquency." The
Alderman paused a moment, to observe the effect of his admonition, and to
judge, by the eye of the free-trader, how much farther he might push his
artifice; but perceiving, to his own surprise, that the other bent his
face to the floor, and stood like one rebuked, he took courage to proceed.
"You have introduced into this portion of my dwelling, which is
exclusively inhabited by my niece, who is neither of a sex nor of years to
be legally arraigned for any oversight of this nature, sundries of which
it is the pleasure of the Queen's advisers that her subjects in the
colonies should not know the use, since, in the nature of fabrications,
they cannot be submitted to the supervising care of the ingenious artisans
of the mother island. Woman, Master Seadrift, is a creature liable to the
influence of temptation, and in few things is she weaker than in her
efforts to resist the allurements of articles which may aid in adorning
her person. My niece, the daughter of Etienne Barberie, may also have an
hereditary weakness on this head, since the females of France study these
inventions more than those of some other countries. It is not my
intention, however, to manifest any unreasonable severity; since, if old
Etienne has communicated any hereditary feebleness on the subject of
fancy, he has also left his daughter the means of paying for it. Hand in
your account, therefore, and the debt shall be discharged, if debt has
been incurred. And this brings me to the last and the gravest of your
offences.

"Capital is no doubt the foundation on which a merchant builds his edifice
of character," continued Myndert, after taking another jealous survey of
the countenance of him he addressed; "but credit is the ornament of its
front. This is a corner-stone; that the pilasters and carvings, by which
the building is rendered pleasant; sometimes, when age has undermined the
basement, it is the columns on which the superstructure rests, or even the
roof by which the occupant is sheltered. It renders the rich man safe, the
dealer of moderate means active and respectable, and it causes even the
poor man to hold up his head in hope: though I admit that buyer and seller
need both be wary, when it stands unsupported by any substantial base.
This being the value of credit, Master Seadrift, none