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Smollett, Tobias George, 1721-1771

"The Expedition of Humphry Clinker"


These objections did not deter Mr Dennison, because they were
chiefly founded on the supposition, that he would be obliged to
lead a life of extravagance and dissipation, which he and his
consort equally detested, despised, and determined to avoid -- The
objects he had in view, were health of body, peace of mind, and
the private satisfaction of domestic quiet, unallayed by actual
want, and uninterrupted by the fears of indigence -- He was very
moderate in his estimate of the necessaries, and even of the
comforts of life -- He required nothing but wholesome air, pure
water, agreeable exercise, plain diet, convenient lodging, and
decent apparel. He reflected, that if a peasant without
education, or any great share of natural sagacity, could maintain
a large family, and even become opulent upon a farm, for which he
payed an annual rent of two or three hundred pounds to the
landlord, surely he himself might hope for some success from his
industry, having no rent to pay, but, on the contrary, three or
four hundred pounds a year to receive. He considered, that the
earth was an indulgent mother, that yielded her fruits to all her
children without distinction.


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