TWELVE REASONS FOR PAYING YOUR DEBTS.
[COMMUNICATED BY A CLERGYMAN.] THE CHRISTIAN'S REASON.
1. The Christian member of society pays his debts, first, because he is ordered to do so in the Bible, where we are told to "Render unto Cresar the things that are Cresar's, and to God the things that are God's "; and to "Owe no man any thing." 2. The Christian hears the Eighth Commandment every Sunday, "Thou shalt not steal ;" and defrauding a man of his due is stealing; for the tradesman lends upon faith and honour, and does not give. 3. The Christian pays regularly all he owes, because he is a friend to justice and mercy : he wishes both to love and succour his neighbour, and will not have the ruin of others on his conscience.
THE PATRIOT'S REASONS.
4. The Patriot knows that one act of justice is worth six of charity—that justice helps the worthy and corrects the unworthy, while charity too often succours but the latter.
5. The Patriot considers the cvils that ensue from the more wealthy man leaving his poorer neighbour unpaid: that by that means the steps of the great ladder of society are broken ; the first ruin beginning with the merchant, who can no longer pay his workman, and continuing to the workman's child, who is deprived of clothes, food, or instruction ; or to the aged father and mother, left to die on a bed of straw.
6 The Patriot pays his debts from a love of his country ; knowing that the neglect of so doing brings on Democracy, Chartism, and a hatred of the upper ranks.
7. The Patriot also pays, because the system of non-payment, pursued to a certain extent, would bring a general bankruptcy on the nation.
THE MAN OF THE WORLD'S REASONS FOR PAYING HIS DEBTS.
8. The man of the world pays, because he is convinced that honesty is the best policy. 9. The man of the world pays, because he knows that curses will go with his name, if he does not pay, instead of good will and good words, which last lie secures with a certain class by paying, 10. The man of worldly calculation is aware, that by the immediate payment of his debts, as fast as they are incurred, he purchases peace of mind, and becomes acquainted with his income, his means, and resources. 11. The man of the world wishes for a comfortable old age, and knows that he has but little chance of it from his surrounding family, unless he trains up his children in habits of order and economy.
12. The man of the world knows the -full force of the term " being an honest man,"—that it will carry him through political depletes and family disputes; and be cannot make claim to that name if he is the ruin of others.
The crying sin cf either international or thoughtless debt in an heretofore honest nation, is a disgrace to the very name of England or Englishman, and demands a remedy from a thinking and enlightened public. X. Y. Z.
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