“The inference which I mean to draw from what is premised, is to remind my fellow citizens of the unfortunate delusion of thinking that even the _whole flour_ of the wheat is not good enough for _them_; that part of it must be taken away, and given to _birds_ or _beasts_.” “By this delusion, supposing a certain quantity of wheat appropriated to their use, (and this is the view they should see it in,) they lose one third part of the flour, and consequently have so much the less bread to supply their wants.” “Is it not then monstrous to hear them complain? Is it not absurd to talk of poverty, and yet pay a _seventh_ or _eighth part_ more than they need, to gratify a fantastic appetite? Had it not been from the custom of eating whiter bread than the whole flour of the wheat will make, should we have thus imposed on ourselves? Would the miller or baker employ all his art to make the bread as _white_ as possible, and oblige us to pay for this _artificial_ whiteness? They tell the consumer, the _whiter it is_, the _finer_; and the finer, the more nutritive. Thus we become _dupes_ so far as to overlook the essential good properties of genuine bread, made of all the flour of the wheat, and likewise the difference in the price.” “We are taught to favour a gross delusion at the suggestion of interested persons, against our own substantial welfare. It is the interest of every one to be _honest_, and say nothing contrary to his real sentiments, as it is the duty of those who have knowledge, to inform such as are ignorant. Those who have never eaten bread of all the flour in a pure state, with the native taste of wheat, and the moisture which it preserves, can know nothing of the comparative excellence of it with respect to the whitened city bread which they have been accustomed to eat all their lives.” “The dictates of the understanding will ever yield to the pleasures of the imagination: and the provident will be attentive to take the advantage of the extravagant. Thus it happens that the poor have been bewildered, and deprived of the object they sought.” “The event depends on the good sense of masters and mistresses of families, and their right understanding of what they mean to eat, _that is_, of what parts of the wheat the bread they consume is made. If they are satisfied that the bread is more pure than what they used to eat, and _sufficiently fine_, we may presume, if they are in their right minds, they will prefer it for domestic use. Every family of fourteen or fifteen persons, consuming at the rate of one pound each, in a day, pays near 16_s._ a week: if they can save 2_s._ 6_d._ or 1_s._ 6_d._ it is an object: to a poor man who spends 5_s._ in bread, if he can save eight or ten pence, it may purchase two or three pounds of animal substance towards making one feast in a week.”