Nature and Culture 59 



Has she a piece of cherished porcelain, it will be 

 smashed; a lace, it will be scorched; and her rivals 

 know right well how to thrust a wasp's sting into 

 her pride. She goes to pieces, and the doctors, 

 who in former times would have bled her, now bleed 

 her husband for her benefit. Husband and wife 

 ought to be in such physical health that they would 

 be ever as ready for the occasion of exuberant 

 spirits as a fine bell is to give forth its music. 



But is there any way out of this complicated 

 and unnatural to a natural and healthful way of 

 living? Can we return to the conditions which 

 make our forest friends so hearty and hardy? We 

 have found it for part of the year in these cabins 

 and by this camp-fire. But there is an easier 

 way out of it for young people starting in life. Let 

 them first abandon the prevailing philosophy and 

 construct a simpler one. Let them resolve to be 

 satisfied with such distinction and admiration as 

 they can win by conduct and character, and make 

 no effort to win it by equipage or any kind of dis- 

 play. What others spend for show let them spend 

 in hospitality, benevolence, and outings. If the 

 husband is employed in the city there is no need of 

 the family living there. For a few hundred dollars 

 he can purchase as many acres near the railway — a 

 half-mile away is near enough. Then build a neat 

 but modest cottage, not to cost over a couple of 

 thousand dollars. Gratify the love of beauty out- 

 side of the house with trees and flowers, and inside. 



