Australian Adages, 1903

The founding of Australia, as depicted in a painting by Algernon Talmage

Snippets 170.  It has been fascinating reading How to Make and Save Money, a book of useful household advice published in Australia in 1903.  We have quoted some of the useful (and bizarre) advice in previous snippets, and last week we looked at a section on etiquette from towards the end of the book.  Let’s take one final look at this interesting book, which concludes with a selection of adages, followed by some legal advice.

Labour is necessary in all things, and riches sometimes come from small beginnings.

A badly kept house leads to a ruined one.

When the tongue is busy the hands are idle.

The bellman of a village makes more noise than he does work.

Speak little, but speak well: great talkers often talk nonsense.

The past gives lessons to the future.

Trifles may produce great happiness or great misery.

He who does nothing for himself ought not to depend upon others.

He who depends solely upon hope will come to want: dependence should be upon exertions.

Industry pays debts: idleness causes them.

A prudent wife is a treasure, and an active one is worth her weight in gold.

To do a thing once cannot be called a habit, but by being repeated it becomes one.

A bad habit is more easily conquered to-day than to-morrow.

All comes from the earth and all returns to it: labour and knowledge increase its produce.

If you cheat the ground it will cheat you: it will give interest for a loan, but gives nothing for nothing.

Instruction is the ornament of the rich and the wealth of the poor.

Instruction is a treasure – labour is the key to it.

With the poor, subsistence depends on the hands, but the head must guide them.

Economy is useful to the rich, but necessary to the poor.

Without economy a man may labour all his life, yet be poorer at the end than at the beginning.

The prudent and careful man increases his store: the idle aud dissipated waste it.

It is better to go to bed supperless than to awake in debt. The first thing saved is the first thing gained.

He who every day has the power of spending has also every day the power of saving.

Let nothing be lost which might be useful to man, animals, or the ground.

More may be lost by one day’s negligence than may be gained by a week’s labour.

Where one may gain, many may be ruined by too often frequenting fairs and markets without real business…

Legal Brevities. — A note dated on Sunday is void. A note obtained by fraud, or from one intoxicated, is void. If a note be lost or stolen, it does not release the maker, he must pay it. An endorser of a note is exempt from liability, if not served with notice of its dishonour within twenty-four hours of its non-payment. A note by a minor is void. Notes bear interest only when so stated. Principals are responsible for their agents. Each individual in partnership is responsible for the whole amount of the debts of the firm. Ignorance of this law excuses no one. It is a fraud to conceal a fraud. It is illegal to compound a felony. The law compels no one to do impossibilities. An agreement without a consideration is void. Signatures in lead pencil are good in law. A receipt for money is not legally conclusive. The acts of one partner bind all the others. Contracts made on Sunday cannot be enforced. A contract with a minor is void. A contract made with a lunatic is void. Written contracts concerning land must be under seal.

“Trifles may produce great happiness or great misery.”  I would suggest buying them in the supermarket, to avoid the latter outcome.

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