gs, and
things of that kind, should be of _pewter_, or even of wood. Any-thing is
better than crockery-ware. Bottles to carry a-field should be of wood.
Formerly, nobody but the gypsies and mumpers, that went a hop-picking in
the season, carried glass or earthen bottles. As to _glass_ of any sort, I
do not know what business it has in any man's house, unless he be rich
enough to live on his means. It pays a tax, in many cases, to the amount
of two-thirds of its cost. In short, when a house is once furnished with
sufficient goods, there ought to be no renewal of hardly any part of them
wanted for half an age, except in case of destruction by fire. Good
management in this way leaves the man's wages to provide an _abundance of
good food and good raiment_; and these are the things that make happy
families; these are the things that make a good, kind, sincere, and brave
people; not little pamphlets about "loyalty" and "content." A good man
will be contented fast enough, if he be fed and clad sufficiently; but if
a man be not well fed and clad, he is a base wretch to be contented.

201. _Fuel_ should be, if possible, provided in summer, or at least some
of it. Turf and peat must be got in summer, and some _wood_ may. In the
woodland countries, the next winter ought to be thought of in _June_, when
people hardly know what to do with the fuelwood; and something should, if
possible, be saved in the bark-harvest to get a part of the fuel for the
next winter. Fire is a capital article. To have no fire, or a bad fire, to
sit by, is a most dismal thing. In such a state man and wife must be
something out of the common way to be in good humour with each other, to
say nothing of colds and other ailments which are the natural consequence
of such misery. If we suppose the great Creator to condescend to survey
his works in detail, what object can be so pleasing to him as that of the
labourer, after his return from the toils of a cold winter day, sitting
with his wife and children round a cheerful fire, while the wind whistles
in the chimney and the rain pelts the roof? But, of all God's creation,
what is so miserable to behold or to think of as a wretched, half-starved
family creeping to their nest of flocks or straw, there to lie shivering,
till sent forth by the fear of absolutely expiring from want?

HOPS.

202. I treated of them before; but before I conclude this little Work, it
is necessary to speak of them again. I made a mistake