* * * * *


DEBTOR AND CREDITOR.

(_Concluded from page 227._)


Debt is obligation, and "obligation," says Hobbes, "is thraldom." This
will be evident if we once consider to what a variety of mean shifts the
state of being in debt exposes us. It sits like fetters of iron on
conscience; but as old offenders often whistle to the clanking of their
chains, so rogues lighten their hearts by increasing their debts. It
destroys freedom as much as a debtor is his creditor's slave; and, under
certain circumstances, his range may be reduced to a few square feet,
and his view prescribed by a few cubits of brick walls; and, humiliating
as this may appear, it sits lightly on the majority, since, even the
brawlers for liberty, forgetting "the air they breathe," are often to be
found within its pale; but in this case they also forget, that being in
legal debt is less venial than many other sins, since it cannot be
cleared by any appeals to argument, or settled by shades of opinion.
Subterfuge, lying, and loss of liberty, are not all the miseries of a
conscious debtor: in the world he resembles a prisoner at large; he
walks many circuitous miles to avoid being dunned, and would sooner meet
a mad dog than an angry creditor. He lives in a sort of _abeyance_,
and sinks under shame when caught enjoying an undue luxury. In short, he
is cramped in all his enjoyments, and considers his fellow, out of debt,
as great as the emperor of the celestial empire, after whose repast
other kings may dine. Hence ensue repining and envy: he fancies himself