44 
WALDEN. 
wealthy and principal men in New England, in the be¬ 
ginning of the colonies, commenced their first dwelling 
houses in this fashion for two reasons ; firstly, in order 
not to waste time in building, and not to want food the 
next season; secondly, in order not to discourage poor 
laboring people whom they brought oyer in numbers from 
Fatherland. In the course of three or four years, when 
the country became adapted to agriculture, they built 
themselves handsome houses, spending on them several 
thousands.” 
In this course which our ancestors took there was a 
show of prudence at least, as if their principle were to 
satisfy the more pressing wants first. But are the more 
pressing wants satisfied now ? When I think of acquir- ' 
ing for myself one of our luxurious dwellings, I am de¬ 
terred, for, so to speak, the country is not yet adapted 
to human culture, and we are still forced to cut our 
spiritual bread far thinner than our forefathers did their 
wheaten. Not that all architectural ornament is to 
be neglected even in the rudest periods; but let our 
houses first be lined with beauty, where they come in 
contact with our lives, like the tenement of the shell¬ 
fish, and not overlaid with it. But, alas ! I have been 
inside one or two of them, and know what they are 
lined with. 
Though we are not so degenerate but that we might 
possibly live in a cave or a wigwam or wear skins to¬ 
day, it certainly is better to accept the advantages, 
though so dearly bought, which the invention and indus¬ 
try of mankind offer. In such a neighborhood as this, 
boards and shingles, lime and bricks, are cheaper and 
more easily obtained than suitable caves, or whole logs, 
or bark in sufficient quantities, or even well-tempered 
