Believe me,
Your ever affectionate father,
R. R.
Reply to a Letter from a young Man informing his Uncle he had contracted Debts.
Soltney, March 4th, 187-
My dear Nephew,
I was indeed deeply grieved on the receipt of your letter to find you had forgotten, or at least not acted up to the advice I gave you—to pay for everything you purchased at once, and not to go into debt on any account. I must put things before you now in a plain unvarnished manner, and give you my opinion, formed after many years' experience. The man who contracts debts which he is unable to pay, more especially for articles of useless luxury, is much more culpable than the poor creature who, distracted by all the miseries of his starving family at home, rushes into the first shop he sees and steals something to relieve their necessities.
When men find themselves encumbered with debts which they are unable to pay, mean subterfuges are resorted to; applications for delay of payment are made—and granted, without any good result; the final crash comes at last: the patience and temper of the tradesmen become exhausted, they have recourse to their legal remedy, and wretchedness and beggary are the result.