[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
her own custom-houses. This is an indiscretion, 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 Barbérie, 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 should assail it without sufficient cause, for its
quality is of a nature too tender for rude treatment. I learned, when a youth,
in my travels in Holland, through which country, by means of the Trekschuyts,
I passed with sufficient deliberation to profit by what was seen, the
importance of avoiding, on all occasions, bringing credit into disrepute. As
one event that occurred offers an apposite parallel to what I have now to
advance, I shall make a tender of the facts in the way of illustration. The
circumstances show the awful uncertainty of things in this transitory life,
Captain Ludlow, and forewarn the most vigorous and youthful, that the strong
Page 39
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
of arm may be cut down, in his pride, like the tender plant of the fields! The
banking-house of Van Gelt and Van Stopper, in Amsterdam, had dealt largely in
securities issued by the Emperor for the support of his wars. It happened, at
the time, that Fortune had favored the Ottoman, who was then pressing the city
of Belgrade, with some prospects of success. Well, Sirs, a headstrong and
ill-advised laundress had taken possession of an elevated terrace in the
centre of the town, in order to dry her clothes. This woman was in the act of
commencing the distribution of her linens and muslins, with the break of day,
when the Mussulmans awoke the garrison by a rude assault. Some, who had been
posted in a position that permitted of retreat, having seen certain bundles of
crimson, and green, and yellow, on an elevated parapet, mistook them for the
heads of so many Turks; and they spread the report, far and near, that a
countless band of the Infidels, led on by a vast number of sherriffes in green
turbans, had gained the heart of the place, before they were induced to
retire. The rumor soon took the shape of a circumstantial detail, and, having
reached Amsterdam, it caused the funds of the Imperialists to look down. There
was much question, on the Exchange, concerning the probable loss of Van Gelt
and Van Stopper in consequence. Just as speculation was at its greatest height
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]