The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1873-01-14
Mli0olrbmp 8t0lster.
TUESDAY. JANUARY IA. 1873.


social and individual life.
ole that goes with wolves learns t,
howl. lie that lies with dogs gets up wit
heas "
Both OF these only anplity and Civ
point in a vicious or dsagreeablc direc
ton, to the English provcrb ,-"Tell IN,
the company thou keepest, and I'll tel
thee who thou art !; tell the with whou
thou gocst. aud I'll tell thee what tho,
dost."
hese proverbs indicate an iuevitabl
law Of social life, which is OF course til
only true life of man. Society being t,
man what its native bed is to the flower.
1t is there alone MS faculties expand anc
shine out in fullest bloom, aud reach thei
proper use. alt is not good that the maj
should live alone" is as much Il declar
alton Of his constitution, aud Of his ex-
periencc, as it was of the early Scriptures
For what are all our daiuties, but paint
ed apples, to look at, and never taste, il
we enjoy them not in genial company.
Says Pope -
"Man, like the generous vine, supported lives;
gives.
On their own axis as the planets run,
Yet make at their circle round tho sun.
So two consistent motions act the soul;
And one regards itself, and one, the whole.
Thus God and nature linked the general frame,
And babe sclf-love and social be the same"
This being SO, while the individual ex-
erts his share on society and so far moud>
and gives it character, society, on tn,
other hand, does much to give character
and confer blessings on the individual
or course, some are but the creatures
the social state. They, lacking that posi-
tive energy and indvidualism, which
asserts its rights and stamps its impress
on all around them, are but passive and
plastic clay, taking shape and receiving
development by surrounding circumstan
ces.
But all are more or less affected by the
social lite in which they daily minge
There is a sort of unconscious tuition,
necessarily in action, teaching its cur
rculum OF study and fastening on all by
its constant attrition. 1t has the con
slant dropping which wears the stone
Hence, careful observer can readily tell
whether one has been reared in the city
full, or in the country waste And in
deed, one very observant, can pretty well
discern between the character of one who
has lived in communities of considerable,
fulness, and yet differing as does that OF
a city or village. They both have thci
courses Of study. They both run then
uhoolo in yrOovoc dam md ,nr,napont
The idiosyhcrases of both are marked
and peculiar But we will not push the
parallel further. We are to speak OF the
pecuiarities of village life.
The first we mention is, that Of gen.
eral acquaintance with everybody and
Of having everybody acquainted with us,
We thus become a sort of transparency
to every one /; looked at, and looked over.
-"I looked through by everyone. Our
vocations, and our avocatons, and residen-
ces and even our incomes are well known
get well sifted in the current village talk,
and thoroughly handled by that aualys
constantly in practice, and unremitting
in applying its tests. We live in show
window, are, in fact, show window it.
SELF This, all this. with some draw back +,
about it, has its privileges. One is, and
not an inconsiderabe one either, that
those important functionaries of the vii.
lage, who sport starry badge upon theil
breasts, pass US by without suspicion
They treat us as just as necessarily hon
est, as, Of course, they are, for are We
not all Of one family, whose maternal
10 thnt H..
trusted organism,-the village.
So thoroughly known as we are. with
in and without, seen and read of all. it
were the most scnseless thing imaginable
to be putting on appearances, and try to
be somewhat more than we are. This
saves, in multitude Of cases the incur
ring OF needless expense. We CON afford
to live according to our means, and with
in our means. For, if we attempted to
be what we were not, and SO put on airs
and clamor for position, the only reflection
which would follow our doing So would be
"What fool ~
But above all this, there is another
side. For one is tempted when thu,
thoroughly exposed by every ones gazy
and observations and riddled by the ar.
rows of all of his neighbours bows, to
sign for
"a pleasure in the painless woods,
rapture the lonely Shore
For that society where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar
Hemmed in by society, Intercepted al
every turn, looked over and over like
merchandise on sale, the feeling for more
room, for less notcriety, for more com.
muuion with ones self, will come ovel
us. And then there is wear.somt
monotony in our village life, when OIL
the streets at our places of business, We
must meet the same persons and look al
the same familiar faces Some, however
may like this best, but all don't.
From what we nave said above, re-
specting the knowledge of others and
their knowledge Of US, one result, not all
together pleasant, but altogether inevita
Bile occurs, namely in village life, anc
in our village life, the faults of person,
become necessarily a matter oe ever
ones knowledge. They become painful
ly clear. All have them, And who car
bear, or who can afford to be looked in
to in every particular. We know prett,
well as a matter of consciousness that ",
are defective beings, and so the grea
study is, to so clothe ourselves with VIVA
is artificial, that our real nature will no
be known. We can do this better il
large places, like cities, than we can in ;
village like Middlebury. Here we ar,
subject, at all times Of day, to microscop
ic observation. What wonder that tn,
very persons who pass for sleek and wei
cultured in communities where vision i
necessarily telescope and casual, shout,