May 10, 2024 • 46 mins
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Economy Part four. As with ourcolleges, so with a hundred modern improvements,
there is an illusion about them.There is not always a positive advance.
The devil goes on exacting compound interestto the last for his early share
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and numerous succeeding investments in them.Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys
which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an
unimproved end, an end which itwas already but too easy to arrive at.
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As railroads lead to Boston or NewYork. We are in great haste
to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maineto Texas. But Maine and Texas,
it may be, have nothing importantto communicate. Either is in such a
predicament as the man who was earnestto be introduced to a distinguished deaf woman,
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but when he was presented and oneend of her ear trumpet was put
into his hand, had nothing tosay, as if the main object were
to talk fast and not to talk. Sensibly, we are eager to tunnel
under the Atlantic and bring the oldworld some weeks nearer to the new,
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But perchance the first news that willleak through into the broad flapping American ear
will be that the Princess Adelaide hasthe whooping cough. After all, the
man whose horse trots a mile ina minute does not carry the most important
messages. He is not an evangelist. Nor does he come round eating locusts
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and wild honey. I doubt ifflying Childers ever carried a peck of corn
to mill. One says to me, I wonder that you do not lay
up money. You love to travel. You might take the cars and go
to Fitchburg to day and see thecountry. But I am wiser than that.
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I have learned that the swiftest traveleris he that goes afoot. I
say to my friend, suppose wetry who will get there first. The
distance is thirty miles. The fairninety cents. That is almost a day's
wages. I remember when wages weresixty cents a day for laborers on this
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very road. Well, I startnow on foot and get there before night.
I have traveled at that rate bythe week together. You will,
in the meanwhile, have earned yourfare and arrived there some time tomorrow,
or possibly this evening. If youare lucky enough to get a job in
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season instead of going to Fitchburg,you will be working here the greater part
of the day. And so ifthe railroad reached round the world, I
think that I should keep ahead ofyou. And as for seeing the country
and getting experience of that kind,I should have to cut your acquaintance altogether.
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Such is the universal law, whichno man can ever outwit. And
with regard to the railroad, evenwe may say it is as broad as
it is long. To make arailroad round the world available to all mankind
is equivalent to grading the whole surfaceof the planet. Men have an indistinct
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notion that if they keep up thisactivity of joint stalks and spades long enough,
all will at length ride somewhere innext to no time, and for
nothing. But though a crowd rushesto the depot and the conductor shouts all
aboard, when the smoke is blownaway and the vapor condemned, it will
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be perceived that a few are riding, but the rest are run over,
and it will be called and willbe a melancholy accident. No doubt they
can ride at last, who shallhave earned their fare, that is,
if they survive so long. Butthey will probably have lost their elasticity and
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desire to travel by that time.This spending of the best part of one's
life earning money in order to enjoya questionable liberty during the least valuable part
of it reminds me of the Englishmenwho went to India to make a fortune
first, in order that he mightreturn to England and live the life of
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a poet. He should have goneup, Garrett at once, what exclaim
a million irishmen starting up from allthe shanties in the land? Is not
this railroad which we have built agood thing? Yes, I answer comparatively
good. That is, you mighthave done worse. But I wish,
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as you are brothers of mine,that you could have spent your time better
than digging in this dirt. BeforeI finish my house, wishing to earn
ten or twelve dollars by some honestand agreeable method, in order to meet
my unusual expenses, I planted abouttwo acres and a half of light and
sandy soil near it, chiefly withbeans, but also a small part with
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potatoes, corn, peas, andturnips. The whole lot contains eleven acres,
mostly growing up to pines and hickories, and was sold the preceding season
for eight dollars and eight cents anacre. One farmer said that it was
quote good for nothing but to raisecheaping squirrels. One. I put no
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manure whatever on this land, notbeing the owner but merely a squatter,
and not expecting to cultivate so muchagain, and I did not quite hoe
it all at once. I gotout several cords of stumps and plowing,
which supplied me with fuel for along time, and left small circles of
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virgin mold easily distinguishable through the summerby the greater luxuriance of the beans.
There. The dead and for themost part unmerchantable wood behind my house and
the drift wood from the pond havesupplied the remainder of my fuel. I
was obliged to hire a team anda man for the plowing, though I
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held the plow myself. My farmoutgoes for the first season were for implements,
seed work, et cetera. Fourteendollars seventy two cents plus the seed
corn was given me. This nevercosts anything to speak of, unless you
plant more than enough. I gottwelve bushels of beans and eighteen bushels of
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potatoes, beside some peas and sweetcorn. The yellow corn and turnips were
too late to come to anything.The whole income from the farm was twenty
three dollars forty four cents. Deductingthe outgoes fourteen dollars seventy two cents plus,
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there are left eight dollars seventy onecents plus beside produce consumed and on
hand. At the time this estimatewas made of the value of four dollars
fifty cents. The amount on handmuch more than balancing a little grass,
which I did not raise, allthings considered, that is, considering the
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importance of a man's soul and oftoday, notwithstanding the short time occupied by
my experiment, nay partly even becauseof its transient character, I believe that
was doing better than any farmer inConcord did that year. The next year
I did better still, for Ispaded up all the land which I required,
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about a third of an acre.And I learned from the experience of
both years not being in the leastawed by many celebrated works on husbandry,
Arthur Young among the rest, thatif one would live simply and eat only
the crop which he raised, andraise no more than he ate, and
not exchange it for an insufficient quantityof more luxurious and expensive things. He
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would need to cultivate only a fewrods of ground, and that it would
be cheaper to spade up that thanto use oxen to plow it, and
to select a fresh spot from timeto time than to manure the old.
And he could do all all hisnecessary farm work, as it were,
with his left hand, at oddhours in the summer, and thus he
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would not be tied to an oxor horse, or cow or pig as
at present. I desire to speakimpartially on this point, and as one
not interested in the success or failureof the present economical and social arrangements,
I was more independent than any farmerin concord, for I was not anchored
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to a house or farm, butcould follow the bent of my genius,
which is a very crooked one everymoment. Besides being better off than they
already, if my house had beenburned or my crops had failed, I
should have been nearly as well offas before. I am wont to think
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that men are not so much thekeepers of herds as herds are the keepers
of men. The former are somuch the freer men and oxen exchange work.
But if we consider necessary work,only the oxen will be seen to
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have greatly the advantage their farm isso much. The larger man does some
of his part of the exchange workin his six weeks of haying. And
it is no boy's play, Certainly, no nation that lived simply in all
respects, that is, no nationof philosophers would commit so great a blunder
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as to use the labor of animals. True, there never was, and
is not likely soon to be anation of philosophers, nor am I certain
it is desirable that there should be. However, I should never have broken
a horse or bull and taken himto board for any work he might do
for me, for fear I shouldbecome a horseman or herdsman merely, And
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if society seems to be the gameby so doing, are we certain that
what is one man's gain is notanother's loss, and that the stable boy
has equal cause with his master tobe satisfied? Granted that some public works
would not have been constructed without thisaid, and let man share the glory
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of such with the ox and horse. Does it follow that he could not
have accomplished works yet more worthy ofhimself. In that case, when men
begin to do not merely unnecessary orartistic, but luxurious and idle work with
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their assistance, it is inevitable thata few do all the exchange work with
the oxen, or in other words, become the slaves of the strongest man.
Thus not only works for the animalwithin him, but for a symbol
of this, he works for theanimal without him. Though we have many
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substantial houses of brick or stone,the prosperity of the farmer is still measured
by the degree to which the barnovershadows the house. This town is said
to have the largest houses for oxen, cows and horses hereabouts, and it
is not behindhand in its public buildings. But there are very few halls for
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free worship or free speech in thiscounty. It should not be by their
architecture, but why not even bytheir power of abstract thought? That nations
should seek to commemorate themselves. Howmuch more admirable the bug of Adgita than
all the ruins of the east,towers and temples are the luxury of princes.
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A simple and indom dependent mind doesnot toil at the bidding of any
prince. Genius is not a retainerto any emperor, nor is its material
silver or gold or marble, exceptto a trifling extent, to what end
prey? Is so much stone hammeredin Arcadia? When I was there,
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I did not see any hammering stone. Nations are possessed with an insane ambition
to perpetuate the memory of themselves bythe amount of hammered stone they leave.
What if equal pains were taken tosmooth and polish their manners, one piece
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of good sense would be more memorablethan a monument as high as the moon.
I love better to see stones inplace. The grandeur of Thebes was
the vulgar grandeur, more sensible asa rod of stone wall that bounds an
honest man's field than a hundred gatedThebes that has wandered farther from the true
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end of life. The religion andcivilization, which are barbaric and Heathenish,
build splendid temples, but what youmight call Christianity does not. Most of
the stone a nation hammers goes towardsits tomb, only it buries itself alive.
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As for the pyramids, there isnothing to wonder at in them,
so much as the fact that somany men could be found degraded enough to
spend their lives constructing a tomb forsome ambitious booby, whom it would have
been wiser and manlier to have drownedin the nile and then given his body
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to the dogs. I might possiblyinvent some excuse for them and him,
but I have no time for it. As for the religion and love of
art of the builders, it ismuch the same all the world over.
Whether the building be an Egyptian templeor the United States Bank, it costs
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more than it comes to. Themain spring is vanity, assisted by the
love of garlic and bread and butter. Mister Balcom, a promising young architect,
designs it on the back of hisVitruvius, with hard pencil and ruler,
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and the job is led out toDobson and Sons stone cutters. When
the thirty centuries begin to look downon it, mankind begin to look up
at it. As for your hightowers and monuments, there was a crazy
fellow once in this town who undertookto dig through to China, and he
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got so far that, as hesaid, he heard the Chinese pots and
kettle's rattle. But I think thatI shall not go out of my way
to admire the hole which he made. Many are concerned about the monuments of
the West and the East, toknow who built them. For my part,
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I should like to know who inthose days did not build them,
who were above such trifling. Butto proceed with my statistics by surveying carpentry
and day labor of various other kindsin the village. In the meanwhile,
for I have as many trades asfingers, I had earned thirteen dollars thirty
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four cents the expense of food foreight months, namely from July fourth to
March first, the time when theseestimates were made, though I lived there
more than two years, not countingpotatoes, a little green corn, and
some peas which I had raised,nor considering the value of what was on
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hand at the last date. Wasrice one dollar seventy three cents and a
half. Molasses one dollar seventy threecents, cheapest form of the sachron.
Rye meal one dollar four cents threequarters, Indian meal ninety nine cents three
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quarters cheaper than rye pork twenty twocents all experiments which failed. Flour eighty
eight cents costs more than Indian mealboth money and trouble, Sugar eighty cents,
lard sixty five cents, apples twentyfive cents, dried apple twenty two
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cents, sweet potatoes ten cents,one pumpkin six cents, one watermelon two
cents, salt three cents. Yes, I did eat eight dollars seventy four
cents all told. But I shouldnot thus unblushingly publish my guilt if I
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did not know that most of myreaders were equally guilty with myself, and
that their deeds would look no betterin print the next year. I sometimes
caught a mess of fish for mydinner, and once I went so far
as to slaughter a woodchuck, whichravaged my bean field, affect his transmigration,
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as a tartar would say, anddevour him, partly for experiment's sake.
But though it afforded me a momentaryenjoyment, notwithstanding a musky flavor,
I saw that the longest use wouldnot make that a good practice. However,
it might seem to have your woodchucksready dressed by the village butcher,
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clothing, and some incidental expenses withinthe same dates, though little can be
inferred from this item, amounted toeight dollars forty cents minus three quarters oil,
and some household utensils two dollars,so that all the pecuniary outgoes excepting
for washing and mending, which forthe most part were done out of the
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house, and their bills have notyet been received. And these are all,
and more than all the ways bywhich money necessarily goes out in this
part of the world. Were housetwenty eight dollars twelve cents plus farm one
year eighteen dollars seventy two cents plusfood, eight months, eight dollars seventy
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four cents, clothing, et cetera. Eight months, eight dollars forty cents
minus three quarters, oil, etcetera. Eight months two dollars in all
sixty one dollars ninety nine cents minusthree quarters. I address myself now to
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those of my readers who have aliving to get and to meet this I
have for farm produce sold twenty threedollars forty four cents earned by day labor
thirteen dollars thirty four cents in allthirty six dollars seventy eight cents, which
subtracted from the sum of the outgoes, leaves a balance of twenty five dollars
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twenty one cents three quarters. Onthe one side, this being very nearly
the means with which I started,and the measure of expenses to be incurred,
and on the other beside the leisureand independence and health thus secured a
comfortable house for me as long asI chose to occupy it. These statistics,
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however accidental and therefore uninstructive, theymay appear as they have a certain
completeness, have a certain value.Also, nothing was given me of which
I have not rendered some account.It appears from the above estimate that my
food alone cost me in money abouttwenty seven cents a week. It was
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for nearly two years after this ryeand Indian meal without yeast, potatoes,
rice, a very little salt,pork, molasses and salt, and my
drink water. It was fit thatI should live on rice mainly who love
so well the philosophy of inn Tomeet the objections of some inveterate cavillers,
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I may as well state that ifI dined out occasionally as I always had
done, and I trust shall haveopportunities to do again. It was frequently
to the detriment of my domestic arrangements. But the dining out, being,
as I have stated, a constantelement, does not in the least affect
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a comparative statement like this. Ilearned from my two years experience that it
would cost incredibly little trouble to obtainone's necessary food, even in this latitude,
that a man may use as simplea diet as the animals and yet
retain health and strength. I havemade a satisfactory dinner, satisfactory on several
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accounts, simply off a dish ofPurslain portulaca oleracia, which I gathered in
my cornfield, boiled and salted.I give the Latin on account of the
savoriness of the trivial name, andpray, what more can a reasonable man
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desire, in peaceful times, inordinary noons than a sufficient number of ears
of green sweet corn, boiled withthe addition of salt. Even the little
variety which I used was a yieldingto the demands of appetite and not of
health. Yet men have come tosuch a pass that they frequently starve,
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not for want of necessaries, butfor want of luxuries. And I know
a good woman who thinks that herson lost his life because he took to
drinking water. Only the reader willperceive that I am treating the subject rather
from an economic than a dietetic pointof view, and he will not venture
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to put my abstemiousness to the testunless he has a welst larder. Bread
I at first made of pure Indianmeal and salt, genuine hoe cakes,
which I baked before my fire outof doors on a shingle, or the
end of a stick of timber sawedoff in building my house. But it
was wont to get smoked and tohave a piny flavor. I tried flour
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also, but have at last founda mixture of rye, an Indian meal,
most convenient and agreeable in cold weather. It was no little amusement to
bake several small loaves of this insuccession, tending and turning them as carefully
as an Egyptian his hatching eggs.They were a real cereal fruit which I
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ripened, and they had to mysenses a fragrance like that of other noble
fruits, which I kept in aslong as possible by wrapping them in cloths.
I made a study of the ancientand indi dispensable art of bread making,
consulting such authorities as offered, goingback to the primitive days and first
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invention of the unleavened kind, whenfrom the wildness of nuts and meats men
first reached the mildness and refinement ofthis diet, and traveling gradually down in
my studies through the accidental souring ofthe dough, which it is supposed,
taught the leavening process, and throughthe various fermentations thereafter, till I came
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to good, sweet, wholesome bread, the staff of life, leaven which
some deem the soul of bread,the spiritus which fills its cellular tissue,
which is religiously preserved like the vestalfire. Some precious bottleful, I suppose,
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first brought over in the mayflower,did the business for America, and
its influence is still rising, swelling, spreading in serialian billows over the land.
This seed I regularly and faithfully procuredfrom the village, till at length
one morning I forgot the rules andscalded my yeast, by which accident I
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discovered that even this was not indispensable, for my discoveries were not by the
synthetic but analytic process, and Ihave gladly omitted it since though most housewives
earnestly assured me that safe and wholesomebread without yeast might not be an elderly
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people prophesied a steady decay of thevital forces. Yet I find it not
to be an essential ingredient. Andafter going without it for a year,
am still in the land of theliving. And I am glad to escape
the trivialness of carrying a bottleful inmy pocket, which would sometimes pop and
discharge its cain contents to my discomfiture. It is simpler and more respectable to
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omit it. Man is an animalwho, more than any other, can
adapt himself to all climates and circumstances. Neither did I put any sal soda
or other acid or alkali into mybread. It would seem that I made
it according to the recipe which MarcusPorcius Cato gave about two centuries before Christ
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panem depstisium sic facito manus mortarium kebene lavato ferinam in mortarium indito aqua partim
adito subigitoc polcre ubi bene subigeres defingitocoquitoc subtestu, which I take to mean
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quote, make kneaded bread. Thus, wash your hands and trough well.
Put the meal into the trough,add water gradually, and knead it thoroughly.
When you have kneaded it well,mold it and bake it under a
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cover eno that is, in abaking kettle. Not a word about leaven.
But I did not always use thisstaff of life. At one time,
owing to the emptiness of my purse, I saw none of it for
more than a month. Every newEnglander might easily raise all his own bread
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stuffs in this land of rye andIndian corn, and not depend on distant
and fluctuating markets for them. Yetso far are we from simplicity and independence,
that in Concord fresh and sweet mealis rarely sold in the shop,
and hominy and corn in a stillcoarser form are hardly used by any For
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the most part, the farmer givesto his cattle and hogs the grain of
his own producing, and buys flour, which is at least no more wholesome,
at a greater cost at the store. I saw that I could easily
raise my bushel or two of ryeand Indian corn, for the farmer will
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grow on the poorest land, andthe latter does not require the best,
and grind them in a hand mill, And so do without rice and pork.
And if I must have some concentratedsweet, I found by experiment that
I could make a very good molasses, either of pumpkins or beets. And
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I knew that I needed only toset out a few maples to obtain it
more easily. Still, and whilethese were growing, I could use various
substitutes beside those which I have named, for as the forefathers sang quote,
we can make liquor to sweeten ourlips of pumpkins and parsnips and walnut tree
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chips. Finally, as for salt, that grossest of groceries to obtain,
this might be a fit occasion fora visit to the seashore, or if
I did without it altogether, Ishould probably drink the less water. I
do not learn that the Indians evertroubled themselves to go after it. Thus
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I could avoid all trade and barterso far as my food was concerned,
And having a shelter already it wouldonly remain to get clothing and fuel.
The pantaloons which I now wear werewoven in a farmer's family. Thank Heaven,
there is so much virtue still inman, for I think the fall
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from the farmer to the operative asgreat and memorable as that from the man
to the farmer. And in anew country, fuel is an encumbrance as
for a habitat. If I werenot permitted still to squat, I might
purchase one acre at the same pricefor which the land I cultivated was sold,
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namely eight dollars and eight cents.But as it was, I considered
that I enhanced the value of theland by squatting on it. There is
a certain class of unbelievers who sometimesask me such questions as if I think
that I can live on vegetable foodalone, and to strike at the root
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of the matter at once, forthe root is faith. I am accustomed
to answer such that I can liveon board nails. If they cannot understand
that, they cannot understand much thatI have to say. For my part,
I am glad to bear of experimentsof this kind being tried, as
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that a young man tried for afortnight to live on hard raw corn on
the ear, using his teeth forall mortar. The squirrel tribe tried the
same and succeeded. The human raceis interested in these experiments, though a
few old women who are incapacitated forthem, or who own their thirds in
mills, may be alarmed. Myfurniture, part of which I made myself,
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and the rest cost me nothing ofwhich I have not rendered. An
account consisted of a bed, atable, a desk, three chairs,
a looking glass three inches in diameter, a pair of tongs and and irons,
a kettle, a skillet and afrying pan, a dipper, a
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wash bowl, two knives and forks, three plates, one cup, one
spoon, a jug for oil,a jug for molasses, and a japanned
lamp. None is so poor thathe need sit on a pumpkin, that
is shiftlessness. There is a plentyof such chairs as I like best in
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the village garrets to be had fortaking them away furniture. Thank God,
I can sit, and I canstand without the aid of a furniture warehouse.
What man but a philosopher would notbe ashamed to see his furniture packed
in a cart and going up countryexposed to the light of heaven in the
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eyes of men. A beggarly accountof empty boxes, that is Spalding's furniture.
I could never tell from inspecting sucha load whether it belonged to a
so called rich man or a poorone. The owner always seemed poverty stricken.
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Indeed, the more you have ofsuch things, the poorer you are.
Each load looks as if it containedthe contents of a dozen shen And
if one shanty is poor, thisis a dozen times as poor. Pray,
for what do we move, ever, but to get rid of our
furniture, our exuvier at last,to go from this world to another,
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newly furnished, and leave this tobe burned. It is the same as
if all these traps were buckled toa man's belt, and he could not
move over the rough country where ourlines are cast without dragging them, dragging
his trap. He was a luckyfox that left his tail in the trap.
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The muskrat will gnaw his third legoff to be free. No wonder
man has lost his elasticity, howoften he is at a dead set.
Quote, Sir, if I maybe so bold, what do you mean
by a dead set? If youare a seer. Whenever you meet a
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man, you will see all thathe owns aye, and much that he
pretends to disown behind him, evento his kitchen furniture, and all the
trumpery which he saves and will notburn, And he will appear to be
harnessed to it, and making whatheadway he can. I think that the
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man is at a dead set,who has got through a knot hole or
gateway, where his sledge load offurniture cannot follow him. I cannot but
feel compassion when I hear some trim, compact looking man, seemingly free,
all girded, and ready speak ofhis furniture as whether it is insured or
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not. But what shall I dowith my furniture? My gay butterfly is
entangled in a spider's web. Then, even those who seem for a long
while not to have any, ifyou inquire more narrowly, you will find
have some stored in somebody's barn.I look upon England to day as an
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old gentleman who is traveling with agreat deal of baggage trumpery which has accumulated
from long housekeeping, which he isnot the courage to burn. Great trunk,
little trunk, band box, andbundle. Throw away the first three
at least it would surpass the powersof a well man nowadays to take up
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his bed and walk. And Ishould certainly advise a sick one to lay
down his bed and run. WhenI have met an immigrant tottering under a
bundle which contained his all, lookinglike an enormous when which had grown out
of the nape of his neck,I have pitied him, not because that
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was his all, but because hehad all that to carry. If I
have got to drag my trap,I will take care that it be a
light one, and do not nipme in a vital part. But perchance
it would be wisest never to putone's paw into it. I would observe
by the way that it costs menothing for curtains, For I have no
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gazers to shut out but the sunand moon, and I am willing that
they should look in. The moonwill not sour milk nor taint meat of
mine, nor will the sun injuremy furniture or fade my carpet. And
if he is sometimes too warm afriend, I find it still better economy
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to retreat behind some curtain which naturehas provided, than to add a single
item to the details of my housekeeping. A lady once offered me a mat,
but as I had no room tospare within the house, nor time
to spare within or without to shakeit, I declined it, preferring to
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wipe my feet on the sawd beforemy door. It is best to avoid
the beginnings of evil. Not longsince I was present at the auction of
a deacon's effects, for his lifehad not been ineffectual. Quote the evil
that men do lives after them end. Quote As usual, a great proportion
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was trumpery, which had begun toaccumulate in his father's day. Among the
rest was a dried tapeworm, Andnow, after lying half a century in
his garret and other dust holes,these things were not burned. Instead of
a bonfire or purifying destruction of them, there was an auction or increasing of
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them. The neighbors, eagerly collectedto view them, bought them all,
and carefully transported them to their garretsand dust holes, to lie there till
their estates are settled, when theywill start again. When a man dies,
he kicks the dust. The customsof some savage nations might perchance be
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profitably imitated by us, for theyat least go through the semblance of casting
their slough annually. They have theidea of the thing, whether they have
the reality or not. Would itnot be well if we were to celebrate
such a busk or feast of firstfruits, as Bartram describes to have been
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the custom of the muck class Indians. Quote when a town celebrates the busk
end, quote says he quote.Having previously provided themselves with new cloths,
new pots, pans, and otherhousehold utensils and furniture, they collect all
their worn out clothes and other despicablethings, sweep and cleanse their houses squares
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in the whole town of their filth, which, with all the remaining grain
and other old provisions, they casttogether into one common heap and consume it
with fire. After having taken medicineand fasted for three days, all the
fire in the town is extinguished.During this fast they abstain from the gratification
of every appetite and passion. Whatever. A general amnesty is proclaimed, all
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malefactors may return to their town.On the fourth morning, the high priest,
by rubbing dry wood together produces newfire in the public square, from
whence every habitation in the town issupplied with the new and pure flame.
They then feast on the new cornand fruits, and dance and sing for
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three days, and the four followingdays they receive visits and rejoice with their
friends from neighboring towns who have inlike manner purified and prepared themselves. The
Mexicans also practice the similar purification atthe end of every fifty two years,
in the belief that it was timefor the world to come to an end.
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I have scarcely heard of a truersacrament, that is, as the
Dictionary defines it, quote outward andvisible sign of an inward and spiritual grace
end quote than this, And Ihave no doubt that they were originally inspired
directly from Heaven to do thus,though they have no biblical record of the
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revelation. For more than five years, I maintained myself thus solely by the
labor of my hands, and Ifound that by working about six weeks in
a year, I could meet allthe expenses of living. The whole of
my winters, as well as mostof my summers. I had free and
clear for study. I have thoroughlytried school keeping, and found that my
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expenses were in proportion, or ratherout of proportion to my income. For
I was obliged to dress and notto say, think and believe accordingly.
And I lost my time into thebargain, as I did not teach for
the good of my fellow men,but simply for a livelihood. This was
a failure. I have tried trade, but I found that it would take
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ten years to get under weigh inthat, and that then I should probably
be on my way to the devil. I was actually afraid that I might
by that time be doing what iscalled a good business, when formerly I
was looking about to see what Icould do for a living. Some sad
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experience, in conforming to the wishesof friends, being fresh in my mind
to tax my ingenuity. I thoughtoften and seriously of picking huckleberries, that
surely I could do, and itssmall profits might suffice. For MY greatest
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skill has been to want but liveso little capital it required so little distraction
from my wonted moods, I foolishlythought, while my acquaintances went unhesitatingly into
trade or the professions. I contemplatedthis occupation, as most like theirs,
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ranging the hills all summer to pickthe berries which came in my way,
and thereafter carelessly dispose of them,so to keep the flocks of admetus.
I also dreamed that I might gatherthe wild herbs, or carry evergreens to
such villagers as love to be remindedof the woods, even to the city
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by hay cart loads. But Ihave since learned that trade curses everything it
handles, and though you trade inmessages from Heaven, the whole curse of
trade attaches to the business. AsI preferred some things to others, and
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especially valued my freedom, as Icould fare hard and yet succeed well.
I did not wish to spend mytime in earning rich carpets or other fine
furniture, or delicate cookery, ora house in the Grecian or the Gothic
style. Just yet, if thereare any to whom it is no interruption
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to acquire these things, and whoknow how to use them. When acquired,
I relinquish to them the pursuit.Some are industrious and appear to love
labor for its own sake, orperhaps because it keeps them out of worse
mischief to such, I have atpresent nothing to say. Those who would
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not know what to do with moreleisure than they now enjoy, I might
advise to work twice as hard asthey do, work till they pay for
themselves and get their free papers.For myself, I found that the occupation
of a day labor or was themost independent of any especially as it required
only thirty or forty days in ayear to support one. The laborer's day
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ends with the going down of thesun, and he is then free to
devote himself to his chosen pursuit,independent of his labor. But his employer,
who speculates from month to month,has no respite from one end of
the year to the other. Inshort, I am convinced, both by
faith and experience, that to maintainone's self on this earth is not a
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hardship, but a pastime, ifwe will live simply and wisely. As
the pursuits of the simpler nations arestill the sports of the more artificial,
it is not necessary that a manshould earn his living by the sweat of
his brow, unless he sweats easierthan I do. End of Part four of Economy
Economy Part four. As with ourcolleges, so with a hundred modern improvements,
there is an illusion about them.There is not always a positive advance.
The devil goes on exacting compound interestto the last for his early share
(00:23):
and numerous succeeding investments in them.Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys
which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an
unimproved end, an end which itwas already but too easy to arrive at.
(00:44):
As railroads lead to Boston or NewYork. We are in great haste
to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maineto Texas. But Maine and Texas,
it may be, have nothing importantto communicate. Either is in such a
predicament as the man who was earnestto be introduced to a distinguished deaf woman,
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but when he was presented and oneend of her ear trumpet was put
into his hand, had nothing tosay, as if the main object were
to talk fast and not to talk. Sensibly, we are eager to tunnel
under the Atlantic and bring the oldworld some weeks nearer to the new,
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But perchance the first news that willleak through into the broad flapping American ear
will be that the Princess Adelaide hasthe whooping cough. After all, the
man whose horse trots a mile ina minute does not carry the most important
messages. He is not an evangelist. Nor does he come round eating locusts
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and wild honey. I doubt ifflying Childers ever carried a peck of corn
to mill. One says to me, I wonder that you do not lay
up money. You love to travel. You might take the cars and go
to Fitchburg to day and see thecountry. But I am wiser than that.
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I have learned that the swiftest traveleris he that goes afoot. I
say to my friend, suppose wetry who will get there first. The
distance is thirty miles. The fairninety cents. That is almost a day's
wages. I remember when wages weresixty cents a day for laborers on this
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very road. Well, I startnow on foot and get there before night.
I have traveled at that rate bythe week together. You will,
in the meanwhile, have earned yourfare and arrived there some time tomorrow,
or possibly this evening. If youare lucky enough to get a job in
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season instead of going to Fitchburg,you will be working here the greater part
of the day. And so ifthe railroad reached round the world, I
think that I should keep ahead ofyou. And as for seeing the country
and getting experience of that kind,I should have to cut your acquaintance altogether.
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Such is the universal law, whichno man can ever outwit. And
with regard to the railroad, evenwe may say it is as broad as
it is long. To make arailroad round the world available to all mankind
is equivalent to grading the whole surfaceof the planet. Men have an indistinct
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notion that if they keep up thisactivity of joint stalks and spades long enough,
all will at length ride somewhere innext to no time, and for
nothing. But though a crowd rushesto the depot and the conductor shouts all
aboard, when the smoke is blownaway and the vapor condemned, it will
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be perceived that a few are riding, but the rest are run over,
and it will be called and willbe a melancholy accident. No doubt they
can ride at last, who shallhave earned their fare, that is,
if they survive so long. Butthey will probably have lost their elasticity and
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desire to travel by that time.This spending of the best part of one's
life earning money in order to enjoya questionable liberty during the least valuable part
of it reminds me of the Englishmenwho went to India to make a fortune
first, in order that he mightreturn to England and live the life of
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a poet. He should have goneup, Garrett at once, what exclaim
a million irishmen starting up from allthe shanties in the land? Is not
this railroad which we have built agood thing? Yes, I answer comparatively
good. That is, you mighthave done worse. But I wish,
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as you are brothers of mine,that you could have spent your time better
than digging in this dirt. BeforeI finish my house, wishing to earn
ten or twelve dollars by some honestand agreeable method, in order to meet
my unusual expenses, I planted abouttwo acres and a half of light and
sandy soil near it, chiefly withbeans, but also a small part with
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potatoes, corn, peas, andturnips. The whole lot contains eleven acres,
mostly growing up to pines and hickories, and was sold the preceding season
for eight dollars and eight cents anacre. One farmer said that it was
quote good for nothing but to raisecheaping squirrels. One. I put no
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manure whatever on this land, notbeing the owner but merely a squatter,
and not expecting to cultivate so muchagain, and I did not quite hoe
it all at once. I gotout several cords of stumps and plowing,
which supplied me with fuel for along time, and left small circles of
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virgin mold easily distinguishable through the summerby the greater luxuriance of the beans.
There. The dead and for themost part unmerchantable wood behind my house and
the drift wood from the pond havesupplied the remainder of my fuel. I
was obliged to hire a team anda man for the plowing, though I
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held the plow myself. My farmoutgoes for the first season were for implements,
seed work, et cetera. Fourteendollars seventy two cents plus the seed
corn was given me. This nevercosts anything to speak of, unless you
plant more than enough. I gottwelve bushels of beans and eighteen bushels of
(07:11):
potatoes, beside some peas and sweetcorn. The yellow corn and turnips were
too late to come to anything.The whole income from the farm was twenty
three dollars forty four cents. Deductingthe outgoes fourteen dollars seventy two cents plus,
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there are left eight dollars seventy onecents plus beside produce consumed and on
hand. At the time this estimatewas made of the value of four dollars
fifty cents. The amount on handmuch more than balancing a little grass,
which I did not raise, allthings considered, that is, considering the
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importance of a man's soul and oftoday, notwithstanding the short time occupied by
my experiment, nay partly even becauseof its transient character, I believe that
was doing better than any farmer inConcord did that year. The next year
I did better still, for Ispaded up all the land which I required,
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about a third of an acre.And I learned from the experience of
both years not being in the leastawed by many celebrated works on husbandry,
Arthur Young among the rest, thatif one would live simply and eat only
the crop which he raised, andraise no more than he ate, and
not exchange it for an insufficient quantityof more luxurious and expensive things. He
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would need to cultivate only a fewrods of ground, and that it would
be cheaper to spade up that thanto use oxen to plow it, and
to select a fresh spot from timeto time than to manure the old.
And he could do all all hisnecessary farm work, as it were,
with his left hand, at oddhours in the summer, and thus he
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would not be tied to an oxor horse, or cow or pig as
at present. I desire to speakimpartially on this point, and as one
not interested in the success or failureof the present economical and social arrangements,
I was more independent than any farmerin concord, for I was not anchored
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to a house or farm, butcould follow the bent of my genius,
which is a very crooked one everymoment. Besides being better off than they
already, if my house had beenburned or my crops had failed, I
should have been nearly as well offas before. I am wont to think
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that men are not so much thekeepers of herds as herds are the keepers
of men. The former are somuch the freer men and oxen exchange work.
But if we consider necessary work,only the oxen will be seen to
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have greatly the advantage their farm isso much. The larger man does some
of his part of the exchange workin his six weeks of haying. And
it is no boy's play, Certainly, no nation that lived simply in all
respects, that is, no nationof philosophers would commit so great a blunder
(10:33):
as to use the labor of animals. True, there never was, and
is not likely soon to be anation of philosophers, nor am I certain
it is desirable that there should be. However, I should never have broken
a horse or bull and taken himto board for any work he might do
for me, for fear I shouldbecome a horseman or herdsman merely, And
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if society seems to be the gameby so doing, are we certain that
what is one man's gain is notanother's loss, and that the stable boy
has equal cause with his master tobe satisfied? Granted that some public works
would not have been constructed without thisaid, and let man share the glory
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of such with the ox and horse. Does it follow that he could not
have accomplished works yet more worthy ofhimself. In that case, when men
begin to do not merely unnecessary orartistic, but luxurious and idle work with
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their assistance, it is inevitable thata few do all the exchange work with
the oxen, or in other words, become the slaves of the strongest man.
Thus not only works for the animalwithin him, but for a symbol
of this, he works for theanimal without him. Though we have many
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substantial houses of brick or stone,the prosperity of the farmer is still measured
by the degree to which the barnovershadows the house. This town is said
to have the largest houses for oxen, cows and horses hereabouts, and it
is not behindhand in its public buildings. But there are very few halls for
(12:30):
free worship or free speech in thiscounty. It should not be by their
architecture, but why not even bytheir power of abstract thought? That nations
should seek to commemorate themselves. Howmuch more admirable the bug of Adgita than
all the ruins of the east,towers and temples are the luxury of princes.
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A simple and indom dependent mind doesnot toil at the bidding of any
prince. Genius is not a retainerto any emperor, nor is its material
silver or gold or marble, exceptto a trifling extent, to what end
prey? Is so much stone hammeredin Arcadia? When I was there,
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I did not see any hammering stone. Nations are possessed with an insane ambition
to perpetuate the memory of themselves bythe amount of hammered stone they leave.
What if equal pains were taken tosmooth and polish their manners, one piece
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of good sense would be more memorablethan a monument as high as the moon.
I love better to see stones inplace. The grandeur of Thebes was
the vulgar grandeur, more sensible asa rod of stone wall that bounds an
honest man's field than a hundred gatedThebes that has wandered farther from the true
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end of life. The religion andcivilization, which are barbaric and Heathenish,
build splendid temples, but what youmight call Christianity does not. Most of
the stone a nation hammers goes towardsits tomb, only it buries itself alive.
(14:37):
As for the pyramids, there isnothing to wonder at in them,
so much as the fact that somany men could be found degraded enough to
spend their lives constructing a tomb forsome ambitious booby, whom it would have
been wiser and manlier to have drownedin the nile and then given his body
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to the dogs. I might possiblyinvent some excuse for them and him,
but I have no time for it. As for the religion and love of
art of the builders, it ismuch the same all the world over.
Whether the building be an Egyptian templeor the United States Bank, it costs
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more than it comes to. Themain spring is vanity, assisted by the
love of garlic and bread and butter. Mister Balcom, a promising young architect,
designs it on the back of hisVitruvius, with hard pencil and ruler,
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and the job is led out toDobson and Sons stone cutters. When
the thirty centuries begin to look downon it, mankind begin to look up
at it. As for your hightowers and monuments, there was a crazy
fellow once in this town who undertookto dig through to China, and he
(16:11):
got so far that, as hesaid, he heard the Chinese pots and
kettle's rattle. But I think thatI shall not go out of my way
to admire the hole which he made. Many are concerned about the monuments of
the West and the East, toknow who built them. For my part,
(16:33):
I should like to know who inthose days did not build them,
who were above such trifling. Butto proceed with my statistics by surveying carpentry
and day labor of various other kindsin the village. In the meanwhile,
for I have as many trades asfingers, I had earned thirteen dollars thirty
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four cents the expense of food foreight months, namely from July fourth to
March first, the time when theseestimates were made, though I lived there
more than two years, not countingpotatoes, a little green corn, and
some peas which I had raised,nor considering the value of what was on
(17:18):
hand at the last date. Wasrice one dollar seventy three cents and a
half. Molasses one dollar seventy threecents, cheapest form of the sachron.
Rye meal one dollar four cents threequarters, Indian meal ninety nine cents three
(17:45):
quarters cheaper than rye pork twenty twocents all experiments which failed. Flour eighty
eight cents costs more than Indian mealboth money and trouble, Sugar eighty cents,
lard sixty five cents, apples twentyfive cents, dried apple twenty two
(18:11):
cents, sweet potatoes ten cents,one pumpkin six cents, one watermelon two
cents, salt three cents. Yes, I did eat eight dollars seventy four
cents all told. But I shouldnot thus unblushingly publish my guilt if I
(18:34):
did not know that most of myreaders were equally guilty with myself, and
that their deeds would look no betterin print the next year. I sometimes
caught a mess of fish for mydinner, and once I went so far
as to slaughter a woodchuck, whichravaged my bean field, affect his transmigration,
(18:55):
as a tartar would say, anddevour him, partly for experiment's sake.
But though it afforded me a momentaryenjoyment, notwithstanding a musky flavor,
I saw that the longest use wouldnot make that a good practice. However,
it might seem to have your woodchucksready dressed by the village butcher,
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clothing, and some incidental expenses withinthe same dates, though little can be
inferred from this item, amounted toeight dollars forty cents minus three quarters oil,
and some household utensils two dollars,so that all the pecuniary outgoes excepting
for washing and mending, which forthe most part were done out of the
(19:41):
house, and their bills have notyet been received. And these are all,
and more than all the ways bywhich money necessarily goes out in this
part of the world. Were housetwenty eight dollars twelve cents plus farm one
year eighteen dollars seventy two cents plusfood, eight months, eight dollars seventy
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four cents, clothing, et cetera. Eight months, eight dollars forty cents
minus three quarters, oil, etcetera. Eight months two dollars in all
sixty one dollars ninety nine cents minusthree quarters. I address myself now to
(20:29):
those of my readers who have aliving to get and to meet this I
have for farm produce sold twenty threedollars forty four cents earned by day labor
thirteen dollars thirty four cents in allthirty six dollars seventy eight cents, which
subtracted from the sum of the outgoes, leaves a balance of twenty five dollars
(20:52):
twenty one cents three quarters. Onthe one side, this being very nearly
the means with which I started,and the measure of expenses to be incurred,
and on the other beside the leisureand independence and health thus secured a
comfortable house for me as long asI chose to occupy it. These statistics,
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however accidental and therefore uninstructive, theymay appear as they have a certain
completeness, have a certain value.Also, nothing was given me of which
I have not rendered some account.It appears from the above estimate that my
food alone cost me in money abouttwenty seven cents a week. It was
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for nearly two years after this ryeand Indian meal without yeast, potatoes,
rice, a very little salt,pork, molasses and salt, and my
drink water. It was fit thatI should live on rice mainly who love
so well the philosophy of inn Tomeet the objections of some inveterate cavillers,
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I may as well state that ifI dined out occasionally as I always had
done, and I trust shall haveopportunities to do again. It was frequently
to the detriment of my domestic arrangements. But the dining out, being,
as I have stated, a constantelement, does not in the least affect
(22:25):
a comparative statement like this. Ilearned from my two years experience that it
would cost incredibly little trouble to obtainone's necessary food, even in this latitude,
that a man may use as simplea diet as the animals and yet
retain health and strength. I havemade a satisfactory dinner, satisfactory on several
(22:48):
accounts, simply off a dish ofPurslain portulaca oleracia, which I gathered in
my cornfield, boiled and salted.I give the Latin on account of the
savoriness of the trivial name, andpray, what more can a reasonable man
(23:08):
desire, in peaceful times, inordinary noons than a sufficient number of ears
of green sweet corn, boiled withthe addition of salt. Even the little
variety which I used was a yieldingto the demands of appetite and not of
health. Yet men have come tosuch a pass that they frequently starve,
(23:33):
not for want of necessaries, butfor want of luxuries. And I know
a good woman who thinks that herson lost his life because he took to
drinking water. Only the reader willperceive that I am treating the subject rather
from an economic than a dietetic pointof view, and he will not venture
(23:55):
to put my abstemiousness to the testunless he has a welst larder. Bread
I at first made of pure Indianmeal and salt, genuine hoe cakes,
which I baked before my fire outof doors on a shingle, or the
end of a stick of timber sawedoff in building my house. But it
was wont to get smoked and tohave a piny flavor. I tried flour
(24:21):
also, but have at last founda mixture of rye, an Indian meal,
most convenient and agreeable in cold weather. It was no little amusement to
bake several small loaves of this insuccession, tending and turning them as carefully
as an Egyptian his hatching eggs.They were a real cereal fruit which I
(24:45):
ripened, and they had to mysenses a fragrance like that of other noble
fruits, which I kept in aslong as possible by wrapping them in cloths.
I made a study of the ancientand indi dispensable art of bread making,
consulting such authorities as offered, goingback to the primitive days and first
(25:07):
invention of the unleavened kind, whenfrom the wildness of nuts and meats men
first reached the mildness and refinement ofthis diet, and traveling gradually down in
my studies through the accidental souring ofthe dough, which it is supposed,
taught the leavening process, and throughthe various fermentations thereafter, till I came
(25:32):
to good, sweet, wholesome bread, the staff of life, leaven which
some deem the soul of bread,the spiritus which fills its cellular tissue,
which is religiously preserved like the vestalfire. Some precious bottleful, I suppose,
(25:55):
first brought over in the mayflower,did the business for America, and
its influence is still rising, swelling, spreading in serialian billows over the land.
This seed I regularly and faithfully procuredfrom the village, till at length
one morning I forgot the rules andscalded my yeast, by which accident I
(26:18):
discovered that even this was not indispensable, for my discoveries were not by the
synthetic but analytic process, and Ihave gladly omitted it since though most housewives
earnestly assured me that safe and wholesomebread without yeast might not be an elderly
(26:40):
people prophesied a steady decay of thevital forces. Yet I find it not
to be an essential ingredient. Andafter going without it for a year,
am still in the land of theliving. And I am glad to escape
the trivialness of carrying a bottleful inmy pocket, which would sometimes pop and
discharge its cain contents to my discomfiture. It is simpler and more respectable to
(27:04):
omit it. Man is an animalwho, more than any other, can
adapt himself to all climates and circumstances. Neither did I put any sal soda
or other acid or alkali into mybread. It would seem that I made
it according to the recipe which MarcusPorcius Cato gave about two centuries before Christ
(27:30):
panem depstisium sic facito manus mortarium kebene lavato ferinam in mortarium indito aqua partim
adito subigitoc polcre ubi bene subigeres defingitocoquitoc subtestu, which I take to mean
(27:57):
quote, make kneaded bread. Thus, wash your hands and trough well.
Put the meal into the trough,add water gradually, and knead it thoroughly.
When you have kneaded it well,mold it and bake it under a
(28:18):
cover eno that is, in abaking kettle. Not a word about leaven.
But I did not always use thisstaff of life. At one time,
owing to the emptiness of my purse, I saw none of it for
more than a month. Every newEnglander might easily raise all his own bread
(28:41):
stuffs in this land of rye andIndian corn, and not depend on distant
and fluctuating markets for them. Yetso far are we from simplicity and independence,
that in Concord fresh and sweet mealis rarely sold in the shop,
and hominy and corn in a stillcoarser form are hardly used by any For
(29:07):
the most part, the farmer givesto his cattle and hogs the grain of
his own producing, and buys flour, which is at least no more wholesome,
at a greater cost at the store. I saw that I could easily
raise my bushel or two of ryeand Indian corn, for the farmer will
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grow on the poorest land, andthe latter does not require the best,
and grind them in a hand mill, And so do without rice and pork.
And if I must have some concentratedsweet, I found by experiment that
I could make a very good molasses, either of pumpkins or beets. And
(29:49):
I knew that I needed only toset out a few maples to obtain it
more easily. Still, and whilethese were growing, I could use various
substitutes beside those which I have named, for as the forefathers sang quote,
we can make liquor to sweeten ourlips of pumpkins and parsnips and walnut tree
(30:14):
chips. Finally, as for salt, that grossest of groceries to obtain,
this might be a fit occasion fora visit to the seashore, or if
I did without it altogether, Ishould probably drink the less water. I
do not learn that the Indians evertroubled themselves to go after it. Thus
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I could avoid all trade and barterso far as my food was concerned,
And having a shelter already it wouldonly remain to get clothing and fuel.
The pantaloons which I now wear werewoven in a farmer's family. Thank Heaven,
there is so much virtue still inman, for I think the fall
(30:57):
from the farmer to the operative asgreat and memorable as that from the man
to the farmer. And in anew country, fuel is an encumbrance as
for a habitat. If I werenot permitted still to squat, I might
purchase one acre at the same pricefor which the land I cultivated was sold,
(31:18):
namely eight dollars and eight cents.But as it was, I considered
that I enhanced the value of theland by squatting on it. There is
a certain class of unbelievers who sometimesask me such questions as if I think
that I can live on vegetable foodalone, and to strike at the root
(31:38):
of the matter at once, forthe root is faith. I am accustomed
to answer such that I can liveon board nails. If they cannot understand
that, they cannot understand much thatI have to say. For my part,
I am glad to bear of experimentsof this kind being tried, as
(31:59):
that a young man tried for afortnight to live on hard raw corn on
the ear, using his teeth forall mortar. The squirrel tribe tried the
same and succeeded. The human raceis interested in these experiments, though a
few old women who are incapacitated forthem, or who own their thirds in
mills, may be alarmed. Myfurniture, part of which I made myself,
(32:25):
and the rest cost me nothing ofwhich I have not rendered. An
account consisted of a bed, atable, a desk, three chairs,
a looking glass three inches in diameter, a pair of tongs and and irons,
a kettle, a skillet and afrying pan, a dipper, a
(32:46):
wash bowl, two knives and forks, three plates, one cup, one
spoon, a jug for oil,a jug for molasses, and a japanned
lamp. None is so poor thathe need sit on a pumpkin, that
is shiftlessness. There is a plentyof such chairs as I like best in
(33:08):
the village garrets to be had fortaking them away furniture. Thank God,
I can sit, and I canstand without the aid of a furniture warehouse.
What man but a philosopher would notbe ashamed to see his furniture packed
in a cart and going up countryexposed to the light of heaven in the
(33:30):
eyes of men. A beggarly accountof empty boxes, that is Spalding's furniture.
I could never tell from inspecting sucha load whether it belonged to a
so called rich man or a poorone. The owner always seemed poverty stricken.
(33:50):
Indeed, the more you have ofsuch things, the poorer you are.
Each load looks as if it containedthe contents of a dozen shen And
if one shanty is poor, thisis a dozen times as poor. Pray,
for what do we move, ever, but to get rid of our
furniture, our exuvier at last,to go from this world to another,
(34:16):
newly furnished, and leave this tobe burned. It is the same as
if all these traps were buckled toa man's belt, and he could not
move over the rough country where ourlines are cast without dragging them, dragging
his trap. He was a luckyfox that left his tail in the trap.
(34:38):
The muskrat will gnaw his third legoff to be free. No wonder
man has lost his elasticity, howoften he is at a dead set.
Quote, Sir, if I maybe so bold, what do you mean
by a dead set? If youare a seer. Whenever you meet a
(35:05):
man, you will see all thathe owns aye, and much that he
pretends to disown behind him, evento his kitchen furniture, and all the
trumpery which he saves and will notburn, And he will appear to be
harnessed to it, and making whatheadway he can. I think that the
(35:27):
man is at a dead set,who has got through a knot hole or
gateway, where his sledge load offurniture cannot follow him. I cannot but
feel compassion when I hear some trim, compact looking man, seemingly free,
all girded, and ready speak ofhis furniture as whether it is insured or
(35:51):
not. But what shall I dowith my furniture? My gay butterfly is
entangled in a spider's web. Then, even those who seem for a long
while not to have any, ifyou inquire more narrowly, you will find
have some stored in somebody's barn.I look upon England to day as an
(36:13):
old gentleman who is traveling with agreat deal of baggage trumpery which has accumulated
from long housekeeping, which he isnot the courage to burn. Great trunk,
little trunk, band box, andbundle. Throw away the first three
at least it would surpass the powersof a well man nowadays to take up
(36:37):
his bed and walk. And Ishould certainly advise a sick one to lay
down his bed and run. WhenI have met an immigrant tottering under a
bundle which contained his all, lookinglike an enormous when which had grown out
of the nape of his neck,I have pitied him, not because that
(36:57):
was his all, but because hehad all that to carry. If I
have got to drag my trap,I will take care that it be a
light one, and do not nipme in a vital part. But perchance
it would be wisest never to putone's paw into it. I would observe
by the way that it costs menothing for curtains, For I have no
(37:21):
gazers to shut out but the sunand moon, and I am willing that
they should look in. The moonwill not sour milk nor taint meat of
mine, nor will the sun injuremy furniture or fade my carpet. And
if he is sometimes too warm afriend, I find it still better economy
(37:42):
to retreat behind some curtain which naturehas provided, than to add a single
item to the details of my housekeeping. A lady once offered me a mat,
but as I had no room tospare within the house, nor time
to spare within or without to shakeit, I declined it, preferring to
(38:02):
wipe my feet on the sawd beforemy door. It is best to avoid
the beginnings of evil. Not longsince I was present at the auction of
a deacon's effects, for his lifehad not been ineffectual. Quote the evil
that men do lives after them end. Quote As usual, a great proportion
(38:25):
was trumpery, which had begun toaccumulate in his father's day. Among the
rest was a dried tapeworm, Andnow, after lying half a century in
his garret and other dust holes,these things were not burned. Instead of
a bonfire or purifying destruction of them, there was an auction or increasing of
(38:51):
them. The neighbors, eagerly collectedto view them, bought them all,
and carefully transported them to their garretsand dust holes, to lie there till
their estates are settled, when theywill start again. When a man dies,
he kicks the dust. The customsof some savage nations might perchance be
(39:13):
profitably imitated by us, for theyat least go through the semblance of casting
their slough annually. They have theidea of the thing, whether they have
the reality or not. Would itnot be well if we were to celebrate
such a busk or feast of firstfruits, as Bartram describes to have been
(39:35):
the custom of the muck class Indians. Quote when a town celebrates the busk
end, quote says he quote.Having previously provided themselves with new cloths,
new pots, pans, and otherhousehold utensils and furniture, they collect all
their worn out clothes and other despicablethings, sweep and cleanse their houses squares
(39:58):
in the whole town of their filth, which, with all the remaining grain
and other old provisions, they casttogether into one common heap and consume it
with fire. After having taken medicineand fasted for three days, all the
fire in the town is extinguished.During this fast they abstain from the gratification
of every appetite and passion. Whatever. A general amnesty is proclaimed, all
(40:22):
malefactors may return to their town.On the fourth morning, the high priest,
by rubbing dry wood together produces newfire in the public square, from
whence every habitation in the town issupplied with the new and pure flame.
They then feast on the new cornand fruits, and dance and sing for
(40:44):
three days, and the four followingdays they receive visits and rejoice with their
friends from neighboring towns who have inlike manner purified and prepared themselves. The
Mexicans also practice the similar purification atthe end of every fifty two years,
in the belief that it was timefor the world to come to an end.
(41:07):
I have scarcely heard of a truersacrament, that is, as the
Dictionary defines it, quote outward andvisible sign of an inward and spiritual grace
end quote than this, And Ihave no doubt that they were originally inspired
directly from Heaven to do thus,though they have no biblical record of the
(41:29):
revelation. For more than five years, I maintained myself thus solely by the
labor of my hands, and Ifound that by working about six weeks in
a year, I could meet allthe expenses of living. The whole of
my winters, as well as mostof my summers. I had free and
clear for study. I have thoroughlytried school keeping, and found that my
(41:52):
expenses were in proportion, or ratherout of proportion to my income. For
I was obliged to dress and notto say, think and believe accordingly.
And I lost my time into thebargain, as I did not teach for
the good of my fellow men,but simply for a livelihood. This was
a failure. I have tried trade, but I found that it would take
(42:16):
ten years to get under weigh inthat, and that then I should probably
be on my way to the devil. I was actually afraid that I might
by that time be doing what iscalled a good business, when formerly I
was looking about to see what Icould do for a living. Some sad
(42:37):
experience, in conforming to the wishesof friends, being fresh in my mind
to tax my ingenuity. I thoughtoften and seriously of picking huckleberries, that
surely I could do, and itssmall profits might suffice. For MY greatest
(42:57):
skill has been to want but liveso little capital it required so little distraction
from my wonted moods, I foolishlythought, while my acquaintances went unhesitatingly into
trade or the professions. I contemplatedthis occupation, as most like theirs,
(43:19):
ranging the hills all summer to pickthe berries which came in my way,
and thereafter carelessly dispose of them,so to keep the flocks of admetus.
I also dreamed that I might gatherthe wild herbs, or carry evergreens to
such villagers as love to be remindedof the woods, even to the city
(43:40):
by hay cart loads. But Ihave since learned that trade curses everything it
handles, and though you trade inmessages from Heaven, the whole curse of
trade attaches to the business. AsI preferred some things to others, and
(44:00):
especially valued my freedom, as Icould fare hard and yet succeed well.
I did not wish to spend mytime in earning rich carpets or other fine
furniture, or delicate cookery, ora house in the Grecian or the Gothic
style. Just yet, if thereare any to whom it is no interruption
(44:21):
to acquire these things, and whoknow how to use them. When acquired,
I relinquish to them the pursuit.Some are industrious and appear to love
labor for its own sake, orperhaps because it keeps them out of worse
mischief to such, I have atpresent nothing to say. Those who would
(44:44):
not know what to do with moreleisure than they now enjoy, I might
advise to work twice as hard asthey do, work till they pay for
themselves and get their free papers.For myself, I found that the occupation
of a day labor or was themost independent of any especially as it required
only thirty or forty days in ayear to support one. The laborer's day
(45:08):
ends with the going down of thesun, and he is then free to
devote himself to his chosen pursuit,independent of his labor. But his employer,
who speculates from month to month,has no respite from one end of
the year to the other. Inshort, I am convinced, both by
faith and experience, that to maintainone's self on this earth is not a
(45:32):
hardship, but a pastime, ifwe will live simply and wisely. As
the pursuits of the simpler nations arestill the sports of the more artificial,
it is not necessary that a manshould earn his living by the sweat of
his brow, unless he sweats easierthan I do. End of Part four of Economy
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