Sentence:  I must desire that you will not think of enlarging your expenses, no not for some years to come, much less at present; but rather <WSD>retrench</WSD> them. You might have lain destitute till Antichrist came, for any thing you could have got from those you used to treat; neither let me hear of one rag of better clothes for your wife or brats, but rather plainer than ever. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To cut down or reduce.