Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1904-12-01

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Callers loaded with gifts and trades
men bending under PACKAGES come and
go in endless procession. The servants
are at the end Of their endurance. AS
for the family and the betrothed, they
no longer have a life or a fixed abode.
Their mornings are spent with dress
makers. milliners, upholsterers. jewel
ers. decorators and caterers. After
that comes a rush through Offices,
where one waits in line, gazing vague
" at busy clerks engulfed in papers.
A fortunate thing if there be time
when this is over to run home and
dress for the series Of ceremonial din
ners betrothal dinners. dinners of
presentation, the settlement dinner
ceptions balls. About midnight, home
again, harassed and weary, to find the
latest accumulation of parcels and a
deluge of letters ~ congratulations. fe-
licitations. acceptances and regrets
from bridesmaids and ushers, excuses
Of tardy tradesnen. And the contre-
temps of the last minute-a sudden
death that disarranges the bridal par
ty. a wretched cold that prevents a
fayorite cantatrice from singing, and
SO forth. and SO forth Those poor
Bianchards! They will never be ready
and they thought they had foreseen
everything,
Such has been their existence for a
month. No longer possible to breathe,
to rest a half hour, to tranquilize ones
thoughts No, this is not living.
Mercifully, there is grandmother's
room. Grandmother is verging on
eighty. Through many tolls and much
suffering she has come to meet things
with the calm assurance which life
brings to men and women Of high
thinking and large hearts. She sits
there in her armchair, enjoying the
silence of long meditative hours. So
the flood of affairs surging through the
house GIBBS at her door. At the thresh-
old of this retreat voices are hushed
and footballs softened, and when the
young fiances want to hide away for
a moment they flee to grandmother.
'Poor childrenl' is her greeting.
you are worn outl Rest little and
belong to each other. All these things
count for nothing. Don't let than alb
sorb you; it isn't worth while
They know it well, these two young
people. How many times in the last
weeks has their love had to make way
for all sorts of conventions and fulfill
tiesI Fate at this decisive moment of
their lives seems bent upon drawing
their minds away from the one thing
essential, to harry them with host
of trivialities, and heartily do they APP
prove the opinion of guantanamo
when she says, between smile and a
caress, Decidedly, my dear, the world
is growing too complex. and it does not
make people happier-quite the con
traryr
[ also am of grandmamma' opinion.
From the cradle to the grave, in his
needs as in his pleasures, in his con
ceDtion of the world and of himself,
the man of modern times struggles
through maze of endless complica-
tion. Nothing is simple any longer
neither thought nor action; not pleas
ure; not even dying. With our own
hands we have added TO existence a
train Of hardships and Topped off many
a qualification. l believe that thou
sands of our fellow men, suffering the
consequences of q too artificial life,
Will be grateful if we try to give ex-
tify the regret for naturalness which
vaguely Expresses them.
Let us first speak of a series of facts
that put into relief the truth we wish
to show.
The compie1ity of our life appears in
the number of our material needs. 1t
is a fact universally conceded that our
needs have grown with our resources.
This is not an evil in itself for the
birth Of certain needs is often the mark
Of progress To feel the necessity Of
bathing of weming fresh linen, inhab-
ting Wholesome houses. eating health
ful food and eultivating cur minds is
sign Of superiority. But if certain
needs exist by right and are desirable
there are others whose effects are fa-
tai which, like parasites. live at our ex-
pense. Numerous and imperious. they
engross us completely.
Could our fathers have foreseen that
we should some day have at Our dis
posal the means and forces we now
use in sustaining and defending our
material life, they would have predict
ell fer us an increase Of independence.
and therefore of happiness, and a de
crease In competition for worldly goods
They might eyen have thought that
through the simplifcati0n Of life thus
made possible a higher degree OF mo
rality would be attained. None Of
these things has come to pass neither
happiness nor brotherly love nor power
for good has been increased. IN the
first place, do you think your fellow
citizens taken as whole. are more
contented than their forefathers and