Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1900-01-12
Are the times improving in senti-
ment, customs and manners?

IlthCult ui solution hcau>c ia Gei>olilllS
ppm them We are too apt To compare
two unlike features of the present and
the past. aud too apt to forget the true
nature and extent of past conditions
which often grow dim in the mind lay
the lapse of time So that We are prone To
either exaggcrate ar diminish ia the
mind the true reality. just as people
are mistaken when they say our fathers
aud mothers lived in much more happy
and comfortable times than now, where
us the fact is the latter hal very few
and very Grade opportunities and means
of comfort AMI happiness compared with
now. People who touch Il little button
and their houses are immediately illu-
minated. turn silver faucet and start
ropiouS streams of warm and cold water,
and who scarcely feel the cold from De-
cemhrr to June have forgotten the trou-
bile of preparing Il tallow candle, or Il
greasy, offensive dim lamp, the labor of
Juggling pail of water through snow
drifts to the house. or of turning about
before old fashioned fires to keep warm.
and such people are those who are apt
10 say Il never knew spring to hold off
so long" when they have seen scores of
later ones.
The reason We are not more comfort
able and happy than the fathers and
mothers is because We are peSSimiStic
and won't be. Besides there is a very
great element of ingratitude involved
and that retards enjoyment. If some
rustic old grandpa and grandma could
have been translated from the rude con
dtionS in which they We're - or 100
wears ago into a residence of even com
mon comforts and modern improvements
they would have been in ecstacics of
happiness. And SO people nowadays
would I've if they had any proper appre-
citation of the abundance of those means
of comfort and happiness which are
multiplying and increasing almost faster
than they can be appropriated. If one
stops to think and make reasonably intel
ligrnt comparisons he will he convinced at
once that the rude manners of even 40 OF
80 years ago would not be tolerated today
One is apt to compare the rudrneSs OF
speech and profanity that is now preva
lent with that which he experienced ol
observed years ago. But the fact is ht
compares what he now hears and the
Intense disgust which he feels with like
spec ch and like conditions. half the en-
ormity of which he has forgotten, ant
two-thirds the effect of which time has
taken away from his mind. Literature
is more cultivated and is of cleancI
and higher order than it used to be
Billingsgate is fast disappearing. 1t il
true that slang, especially Il sort of idio
matte slang, is quite prevalent, but II,
one can fail to see that even that is lis
teu-l to with diSfavor if it is not clcal
and pat. and keen and punsent. People
are growing more and more diSgustet
witl gross and indecent language. Book
are improving: the sensual. sentimental
and miraculous and extravagant feature
i'll them are growing more and more il
disfavor. The time was within TIN
memory of many now living when
ncycl which contained nothing but love
sensationaism and intrigue would b.
acceptable, but that is not SO now. NJ
book can obtain substantial recognition
now unless it exhibits the highest skill
and literary taste. and it must also hav
real, substantial historic features am
teachings, or be illustrative of some usc
full principles of theology. science, pol
tics, or the philosophy 81 things whic
relate to the good and the improvement
of men and women. Men are growin
more charitable too, broader, and les
mechanical in measuring each other
interests and views. Take the suhjec
of litigation. Men are more candid
placing their interests in a way to b
determined by calm and intelligen
analysis of each others lights. If Il ma
thinks he has been wrGnged be is les
inclined than formerly to go into a pas
sionate tilt with the purpose of ruinin
his adversary and eontending as pngilist
do for wager piscourtesy, frandulen
and oppressive practices ara less frequen
tfan formerlyi courts less resemble til
town meeting or q mob. Courtesy an
candor and impariiality in determining
mems rights prevail now as never be
fore, and that man is blind WHO canno
see "A very great advance in those respect
Of the present over the past.
Even the political features of society
which will always lie looked upon witt
jealousy by the masses, and which from
the very nature of things will probabl
always he infected with undesirable in
gradients, are improving. The exercis
of the franchise instead Of being left t.
the rude passions and impulses of indi
viduals or the masses is regulated b,
most ingenious devices, and a safety AM
independence secured to the voter whicl
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