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Home Life In America

Home Life In America image
Parent Issue
Day
5
Month
April
Year
1872
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

It is the habit of old peoplo to orj down the present md to cry up the i :ist . " It "was different wheu wery. youag," t!;.v say : " and it was better," thuy gon.1. Ld. The Qld timo ís ulw.iys tho good timo, with the old, and, wo Bupposp. s wili bu. Tilo ] u.-t-j have dein.: mueh to bring ii'nuut this opinión, for they aro uovor weary of singiug about"The days that are nu more." It was so in Gruece and Ifome, and it w is so i:. i' .: -.■- land. " When this old oap was new " evorything was as it should bo ; and evory virtue undcr thu sun was iuipersonatcd in. "Tho Queen's Old Courtier," und " Fine Old Euglish Gentleiiian." It was a pity that these wortaiet had to die bofOre tbeir virtue could lio found out ; but thoy had to all the same. U'u do uot agree with the: poets iu this matter, and liever sha.ll. But we are willing to agree with them, if they will agRte witli US. We will admit that the old timo is tho time, but they must admit that no timo is so old as tho present timo. It is the faet, whether they admit. itor not, and it follows, thorefore, tiiat it ió tho best time. And it ought to be ; tor peoples, likö per.sons, " livo to loarn." wera it otherivise, all the battlos that been lust and v.-.jii, all the graaft men who have lived and died - ovcryllung, in short, tii it was, and is not, would havo buen to no pur.. : . [t is the crab that walk baokwarda - nut man. The raoa ád vahees1; i; not recodo. Xot to philotiophiz ■ on so evident a truism, howavor, let us look a little into imple matter of hamo lite. Forty, thirty twenty years ago the homo lite oí' Au: iriea waa very different from whatit s fco-day. It w:i? less expenaive and lesa comportable. The man of average meaos liv. ■[ tvithin bis ui ana, but it was at the sacrifico of something. líe did not dony hini3olf the "crjaturo comforts1 but he deniod liim;elf tho luxury of'b toks, ;iu:l his wifu and daughteru tho luxury ot dross. . Fii'ty caliec; droasea were woni tln.ii whoro one ia worn uow ; tvhile booka which now ran through tweuty oditions, were a long tiino then iu creeping t!:: mgh pile. Whsther thore aio not too iiKiny bjoks, and too few ealico drosses, ii'iv. ia 11 't tho ':i.::i.)]i; it is the f act r. Thirty yeara ugo tlie e. st of a good brisk huuse, iu u pleasaat'city street, waa ubout equal to tho yearly rental ofs-ich ahtruso uowj at miy rate, it w.is nut much ffreater. To be ■:;., there were dr,ivu:icks to thoso housts whii-U nu longer exist. We have ventUation whero we had none ; we are wariii WnèfÓ v.'j wol'o CulJ ; in other worde, we have oomfort wbero we had disuomi'urt. Tuis has cost us SOinething, but it is worth whut it has cost us. Who wiü, uiay wish back tho close chambers, the wittdy passage ways, the hard, black hair-elotli sj.'.i,;, ui' forty yeiMS agj. We would as soon wish back tho unoarp'Gtc'd floórsl und the woud ot uucestoi's. These wero goodienoughi prhaps, fcr the okl tioie, but they are nut goud enuugh tor the older tiuie. "We Eavo -and learnedi "Theraia nu royal io.nl tö learning," is uu old axioni, but tho average American will nut be eouvineud of tlie truth of it. It 18 li .' to eonvinee biui óf the truth of anything, when it is to his interest tu believo the oontrary. :■ eau ünd, ur m-ike royal roads unvwhere. And he does, tbough m:i:.y oí' theiu aro payad with auything bul gooi intentions. "Gel rieh, my .son, got riuh, Uonestly if you oan ; if not - get rioh." It wus nut a Frachmon who sftid tiiis, although one mght think so, but a m,;mbef of that pluin speaking seot - the Uuakers. The average Ameriean does uot -'peak uut m meeting," he is top smart f'or that - ha ïnoroly jiuts his intontion i:i practica. It is not so much his fault porhftpa as the fault of tho period, thut ho niakes haste to grow rieh. Everybody does so. The standard of moráis is no longer what it wb. Many things havo conspired, of late, to eliange it ; umong others the succe.ss which follows those who viólate it most audaciously. It is no matter how they got rieh - if they only get rieh unough ! " Píate sin in Rold And the strong lance of . !eu break, Arm it iu 1:155, u p%iuy'H .-truw i!n[ii pieroó it." The pission of America to-day, is the ■i fox wealth, and its weaknoss fur display. Both aro bad, no doubt, from a moral point of view : atill, liut.li ure productivo of good. But for tho tirst wo should be contení, as we once wero, witli btttge-coaohes and sailing paokets, and but for the last we sh.mld be eoateut witli the old, woru-out homes of pur micestors. Now we are COJSitoat withneither. The chango that has como over us in regard to uur home lire, ,'.s un oiil neti that wo have grown wm not, H;,y moro culti [ ( fur that would in: souuding oifensivo ) but moro cosmupolitan, We are not uierely Amerieans, we are oitizens of tho world. We btvve learned Ui travel, and liuve learned something by our travel. To be suiv, we un: laaghsd at abroad, especially for our extravagance, but let thoso laugh who win. Tiu-y do not laugh iu London over tho rare books woioh we parchase fur uur librónos; nor do they laugh in Paris over tho pioturee whieïi we p'urchaae for uur galleries. We bring bavk more than wu tukc away. Tliis fuct is nowhee bo apparout us in American homes. It is not ineroly that tho walli which wero onco bare are now crowded witli pietures, uur that the rooms whioh were OBllod libraries now contain books it is in tb.' genera] air of elogance and reiinemént, whioh prevadea the wholo household, und which, in itself, is a liberal educatiull.- -Ji'ivm tlO AlilÍM,Jof Ap Ten or íiftei;n years ago a publio dinnor wus given tp the members of the Leg. jslaturo at Providiiu-.r, und a NTarragansetf preaoher, called tho " Jtegular Pacer, ' b. eausi; m his prayers he had a habit of stundiiiir bnniiid aohair, stepping baokv.:r 1 and hitcing it ttiter bun, w.is Cftllcl un toask .i blossintf. He atodd up in liis ..u:.; style and begari a lengthy prayer. Thero wus un open door behiud hiui, and he poon unwitnngly backed into .au udjuining room, ' taking his cliuir along, viren föme ono Boftly oldsed the door, :.:iá tb.' tuugpy iriiötta proccoded to dine, nrhen the pafcitjpn wus tinish-d at leisure by the abstraettd m.niste.-.

Article

Subjects
Old News
Michigan Argus