Note 131 — LETTER XX

“1st. We will not purchase, or suffer to be used in our families, any imported liquors, fruits, nuts, or preserves of any kind, unless they shall be required in cases of sickness.

“2d. Being convinced, that the practice which generally prevails of wearing suits of black as testimonials of respect for the memory of deceased friends, is altogether useless, if not improper, while it is attended with a heavy expense; we will not sanction it hereafter in our families, or encourage it in others.

“3d. We will not purchase, for ourselves or our families, such articles of dress as are expensive, and are generally considered as ornamental rather than useful.

“4th. We will abstain from the use of imported goods of every description, as far as may be practicable, and we will give a preference to articles that are of the growth and manufacture of our own country, when the latter can be procured.

“5th. We will not purchase any articles, either of food or dress, at prices that are considered extravagant, or that the citizens generally cannot afford to pay; but will rather abstain from the use of such articles until they can be obtained at reasonable prices.

“6th. We will observe a rigid economy in every branch of our expenditures, and will, in all our purchases, be influenced by necessity rather than convenience, and by utility rather than ornament.

“7th. We believe that the prosperity of the country depends in a great degree on a general and faithful observance of the foregoing declaration; we therefore promise that we will adhere to it ourselves, and that we will recommend it to others.”—Farnsworth’s Cincinnati Directory.—Flint.