The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1884-07-03

The cyclic philosophers, if there are
any, know that civilization moves in q
circle, and that the freedom of enamel
pated culture comes round to the free
dom of barbaric life. Originally no
madic, we rove about until circum-
stances and the accumulation of our
possessions compel us to settle down
and take root in one place. Then the
process of evolution goes on as wealth
and uneasiness and dissatisfaction
(which are names for modern culture)
increase, until we become again in our
desires nomadic. The cyclic philoso-
pher, if he exists, says that the instinct
for fixed home is "middle-elass" in
stinct. The tramps like to roam, and
the higher classes" like also to roam.
and to have many places of temporary
residence. AS We all belong to the
higher class in this country, we all like
to move about, and we do move accord;
ing to our several abilities. If we I'M
derstand the process Of evolution on
this continent, it was from the nomads
to the jewellers in communal houses
and villages, like the pueblos, and then
to the possession of separate homes; or,
as the Indian philanthropists say now,
to the holding of lands in severaltv
AS we become more highly developed
and prosperous, we go back to sort of
communal existence i'll gigantic board
lighthouses Especially in summer) and
an association of flats. and those who
can do so take step further. and roam
about in Europe, Africa, and Florida.
The confessed advantage of boarding
house and fat is that you can leave it
ut any time and start on your wander
ings with no more preparation than an
Indian needs in striking his wigwam,
or Tartar in saddling his horse.
Comparatively few as yet Of the very
highly civilized can put themselves on
this absolutely nomadic basis; but once
n year everybody must join this move
ment in some way. This is not the
dictate of fashion, but the demand of
health. Our pnny ancestors used to
stay at home the year round, except
for an occasional family visit, or q mod
est week or two Mt some mineral spring,
or soioun in the nj yhborhood of an
oyster bed. But nobody can live now
without an absolute change of ar and
scene at least twice year. Even in
New England, where there is change
of air every twenty-f four hours, and if
one will only stay still he will get in
the course of the year as many differ
ent climates as any human system can
digest, there is semi-annual frenzy
for going away from home. Those who
have pleasant homes get weary of the
routine of comfortable existence and
the accommodating burden of an exhaust
i've modern housekeeping, and long
for the meager accommodations of n
gigantic boarding house in some vast
wilderness, or in some caravansary by
the sea. 1t is the communal instinct
breaking out again. There are those
who say that this is owing to the ma
laria, that people need to change the
kind of malaria, the city sort for the
country sort, the seaside kind for the
mountain, and so on. But malaria,
which is now nearly coextensive, and
getting to be thought Synonymous,
with civilization, is not the moving
cause. 1t is the nervous system, which
is in the process of evolution round to
the old condition in which a man could
not keep still. 1t must be that health
demands again an approach to the no.
madic state. There are hundred dis
eases which wealth allows us to culti-
vate, besides malaria, that demand a
summer and winter change. Charles
Dudley WdTner, in Hdrper's Maya