er evenings _in the dark_, even if he
expend _fifteen shillings_ a year in candles. You may do any sort of work
by this light; and, if reading be your taste, you may read the foul
libels, the lies and abuse, which are circulated gratis about _me_ by the
"Society for promoting _Christian Knowledge_," as well by rush-light, as
you can by the light of taxed candles; and, at any rate, you would have
one evil less; for to be deceived and to pay a tax for the deception are a
little too much for even modern loyalty openly to demand.

MUSTARD.

198. Why _buy_ this, when you can _grow_ it in your garden? The stuff you
buy is half _drugs_; and is injurious to health. A _yard square_ of
ground, sown with common Mustard, the crop of which you would grind for
use, in a little mustard-mill, as you wanted it, would save you _some
money_, and probably save your _life_. Your mustard would look _brown_
instead of _yellow_; but the former colour is as good as the latter: and,
as to the _taste_, the _real_ mustard has certainly a much better than
that of the _drugs_ and flour which go under the name of mustard. Let any
one _try_ it, and I am sure he will never use the drugs again. The drugs,
if you take them freely, leave _a burning at the pit of your stomach_,
which the real mustard does not.

DRESS, HOUSEHOLD GOODS, AND FUEL.

199. In Paragraph 152, I said, I think, enough to caution you, the English
labourer, against the taste, now too prevalent, for _fine_ and _flimsy_
dress. It was, for hundreds of years, amongst the characteristics of the
English people, that their taste was, in all matters, for things solid,
sound, and good; for the _useful_, and _decent_, the _cleanly_ in dress,
and not for the _showy_. Let us hope that this may be the taste again; and
let us, my friends, fear no troubles, no perils, that may be necessary to
produce a return of that taste, accompanied with full bellies and warm
backs to the labouring classes.

200. In _household goods_, the _warm_, the _strong_, the _durable_, ought
always to be kept in view. Oak tables, bedsteads and stools, chairs of oak
or of yew tree, and never a bit of miserable deal board. Things of this
sort ought to last several lifetimes. A labourer ought to inherit from his
great grandfather something besides his toil. As to bedding, and other
things of that sort, all ought to be good in their nature, of a durable
quality, and plain in their colour and form. The plates, dishes, mu