Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1888-11-21
THE SHEATH OF CUSTOM.
HAVE WE REACHED THE VERY eesT
METHODS OF L,ViNGl

Our froneness to Honor Customs and
Practices simply Bccnusc Everybody Else
Doss-Iiow Much Is Reasonable and
How Iuch L. Merely Arbitrary?
livery human being grows mp inside n
sheath-of custom. which erfolds it Us the
swathing clothes cnfold the infant. The
sacred customs of ones own early home
how fixed and immutable they appear to
the child Ii surely thinks that all tho
world in all times has proceeded ON tho
Same lines which bound it's tiny life. II
regards 4 breach of these rules (somc of
them. at lcast) rs wild step i'm the dark.
leading TO unknown dangers. The elders
have always said land, Indeed it seems
only reasonably that by this time of day
everything has been so thoroughly worked
over that tho best methods of ordering
our hfc-food, dress. domestic practices.
social habits-havc long ago been deter.
mined. IL so, why these divergences In
the simplest and most obvious nattcrsg
And then one thing after another gives
way. The sacred. world wide customs in
which we arc bred turn out to- uc only
the practices of small or harrow caste or
class; or they prove to DO confined tn n
very limited locality. and must be left be-
hind when we set out on our travels; or
they belong to the tene;s OF u feeble sect;
or they are just tho products of one are
in history and no other
Are there really no natural boundaries?
Has not our life anywhere been founded
ON reason and necessity. but only on arb.
trary customs! What Is more important
than food. yet in what human matter arc
there more arbitrary divcrg-enccs of prac
ticeT The Scotch Highlander nourishcs
on oatmeal. which the English Sheffield
iron worker would rather starve than cat;
the fat snail which the Roman country
gentleman once so priced now cravls un
molested in English or American lardcns;
rabbits are taboocd in Germany; frogs are
unspeallablc in England: saiierkrau: i;
detcstcd in France; many races and
gangs of people arc quito certain they
would die ii deprived of meat; others
think spirits Of some kind n necessity.
while To others again bota these things
are an abominatio!.
AND VET WHY not?
Every district has it's local practices in
food. and the peasants look with tho
greatest suspicion on any new dish. aud
can rarely bc induced 10 adopt it. Though
II has been abundIutly proved that many
OF the fungi arc excellent eating lch i
the force III custom that the mushroom
alone is ever publicly recognized. willie
ciiriously enough it is said that in some
DINER countries where tho claims of other
ngarics are allowed the mushroom itself
Is not used. Finally. feel r:lvsclf (ard
the gentle reader probably feels the sanc)
that would rather die than subsist on
insects. such is the deep seated disgust
VIC experience toward this class of food.
let " Is notorious that many races of
respectable people adopt q diet of this
sort. and only lately = book has been pub
llshed giving detail of excellent proven
der of the kind we habitually overlook
nasty rlorsels Of caterpillGrs and beetles.
and so forth.
And, indeed. when one comes 10 think
OF IL, what can 1t be but prejudice which
causes one 10 cat the periwinlllc and re
Ject the land snail, or TO prize the lively
p-awn and prescribe the cheerful grass.
hopper? Why do we sit ON chairs instead
of on the floor, IS the Japanese do. or on
cushions like the Turks? 1t Is custom.
aud perhaps it suits with our other Gus
toms. The more VIC look into our life ard
consider the immense variety of habit in
every department of it--evcn under con-
ditlons TO all appearances exactly similar
the more are we impressed by the nb
sencc OF any serious Lecessity in the
forms we ourselves are accustomed to-
Zach race, each class. each section Of the
population, each unit even, vauntS its
own habits Of life as superior TO the rest,
as the only truo and Legitimate forms:
and peoples and classes will 20 TO war
with each other In their assertion Of their
own special belief and practices but tho
question that rather presses upon tho i'm.
genuous and inquiring mind is whether
any of us have got hold of much true life
at all.-Home Journal