rom St. Stephens, in
Cornwall. In the manufacture of printing paper, a large quantity of
plaster of Paris is added to the paper stuff, to increase the weight of
the manufactured article. The selvage of cloth is often dyed with a
permanent colour, and artfully stitched to the edge of cloth dyed with a
fugitive dye. The frauds committed in the tanning of skins, and in the
manufacture of cutlery and jewelry, exceed belief.

The object of all unprincipled modern manufacturers seems to be the
sparing of their time and labour as much as possible, and to increase
the quantity of the articles they produce, without much regard to their
quality. The ingenuity and perseverance of self-interest is proof
against prohibitions, and contrives to elude the vigilance of the most
active government.

The eager and insatiable thirst for gain, which seems to be a leading
characteristic of the times, calls into action every human faculty, and
gives an irresistible impulse to the power of invention; and where lucre
becomes the reigning principle, the possible sacrifice of even a fellow
creature's life is a secondary consideration. In reference to the
deterioration of almost all the necessaries and comforts of existence,
it may be justly observed, in a civil as well as a religious sense, that
"_in the midst of life we are in death_."

FOOTNOTES:

[1] _The Times_, May 18, 1818. The King _v._ Richard Bowman. The
defendant was a brewer, living in Wapping-street, Wapping, and was
charged with having in his possession a drug called _multum_, and a
quantity of copperas.

The articles were produced by Thomas Gates, an excise officer, who had,
after a search, found them on the defendant's premises. The Court
sentenced the defendant to pay a fine of 200_l._

The King _v._ Luke Lyons. The defendant is a brewer, and was brought up
under an indictment charging him with having made use of various
deleterious drugs in his brewery, among which were capsicum, copperas,
&c. The defendant was ordered to pay the fines of 20_l._ upon the first
count, 200_l._ upon the third, and 200_l._ upon the seventh count in the
indictment.

The King _v._ Thomas Evans. The charge against this defendant was, that
he had in his possession forty-seven barrels of stale unpalatable beer.
On, the 11th of March, John Wilson, an excise officer, went to the
storehouse, and found forty-seven casks containing forty-three barrels
and a half of sour unwholesome beer. Several samp