The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1892-10-08
.focLowlNo NATURE.

A rrue Picture of Some of tho Wouid-be
Reformers. -
This world abounds with a certain
class of writers and speakers who never
seem ia tire Of advising their audiences
and the public In general TO keep az
near as possible TO nature and naturaA
conditions Whether It is the compieA
ion,. the diet, the residence or the iasn
ion in dress, it seems to make no u,nel
eace-nature is their J obby. Iney
never particularize, never tell WY
thew would do thus and so, except Oh
general principles They never argue
but only assert and denounce' waxing
angry and sometimes abusive II called
upon to show cause for their stasS
ments.
They declare that the men ana wom-
en- of the present day are living un"e.
artificial conditions; that hypocrisy ana
show are running away with our better
Judgment, and that the best thing we
can do Is to return to more simple
fashion of living, and return to more
natural conditions.
Now this might be all very well If the
progress of the world had not been, for
50 many hundreds of years, in limo
gradually diverging from the natural
conditions so much prated about, or, In
many instances, in direction diamet-
really opposite. There are few tasks
as hopeless as the attempt either to re-
form or direcA the course Of events, and
he must indeed be of strong will and
high courage who feels able to UNDER
take it.
And the reformer, especially the one
who is always trying to bring his
friends closer to nature, is almost al
ways a tiresome individual. He Is quite
certain to attack ones latest fad, or to
begin one of his diatribes on the follies
of fashion and the extravaganza OF
modern life just when you have fancied
that he had taken mental note OF your
new drawingroom furniture or had
come in from q drive in the latest style
of light road-wagon.
Or he opens fire just after one OK
your best dinners, and his discourse
is on dyspepsia and how injurious
modern, or artistic, cookery Is to
the human family; and he per-
sists until you heartily wish that he
would 60 out and eat grass, and find
himself so completely occupied with
getting the nutriment from it that he
couldn't open his mouth to say word
To these malcontents a well-dressed
woman suggests vanity, folly and all
| things frivolous; and well is it il there
be not d shake of the head and sig
nificant grirnaee and shrug of tho
shoulders, which mean much more
A fine complexion suggests paint and
| powder, good figure is the signal for
! a lecture on corsets, with the eternal
..return to nature" for pivotal idea
And the most remarkable part of all
of the reformer's theory and practice is
that he will never follow his own adj
vice. No one ever knew him to refuse
to eat a dinner because 1t was prepared
| by a chef, or to decline an invitation to
drive because the carriage was of the
newest pattern, or to object to enjoying
any of the good things of life because
they were modern.
So we may as well conclude that the
greater part Of the would-be reformer's
talk is but idle breath spent, because
he loves the sound of his own voice, and
not because he has either the courage
of his own convictions or a sincere de-
sire to make the world, his associates or
himself any better because he has lived
and lectured and found fault with the
existing state OF things.-N. Y. Ledger.
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