Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1904-12-09

InTOuBH Is muse, anu Which, lHty ludke
dance at will. The comparison is not
flattering, but admit that it is true.
1t is by their needs that they are
drawn, so many men, to struggle,
shout and talk OF liberty, of progress,
and l know not what else. They do
not know how to take one step in
life without asking If that will not
annoy their masters How many men
and women have gone nearer and
nearer even to dishonesty, for the
sole reason that they had too many
needs and could not resign themselves
to live simply! There are many pen
sioners in the prison cells at Mazas
who could tell us many things on the
danger of too exacting needs.
Let me tell you the story Of a good
man | knew. He loved his wife and
children tenderly, and lived in France
from the results of his labor, in a
comfortable ease but which was far
from sufficing for the luxurious needs
of his wife. Always short of money,
whereas he could have lived comforta-
bly, with little simplicity, he ended
by exiling himself to a distant colony
where he earns much money, leaving
his family in the mother country. l
do not know what that unfortunate
man must think there, SO far away,
but his family has a finer apartment,
handsomer clothes and a sort of an
equipage. For the moment their
contentment is extreme. But they
will be soon accustomed to this lux
ury, which is after all rudimentary.
In a short time madame will find her
furniture mean, and her carriage poor.
II that man loves his wife as we can
not doubt he does, he would emigrate
to the moon to earn a larger salary.
Elsewhere the roles are reversed, and
It Is the woman and the childen who
are sacrificed to the voracious needs
of the head of the family whose ir-
regular life, gaming and many other
costly follies cause him to forget his
duties. Between his appetites and his
raternal position he has decided for
the first and slowly he drifts toward
the vilest egotism.
This forgetfulness of all dignity,
this progressive paralysis of noble
sentiments is not found among the
The man Of the people is also attacked
by it. l know many little families
where happiness might reign, but
where you will see poor mother Of
a family who has but grief and sor-
row day and night, children without
shoes, and often great anxiety for the
daily bread. Why? Because the ia
Their must have too much money. Not
to speak of the expense in alcohol,
every one knows the proportions it
has reached In the last twenty years.
The sums swallowed in this mighty
gulf are fabulous, double the ransom
of the war of 1870. How many legiti-
mate needs could be satisfied with
what is thrown away in pasturage to
fictitious needs The reign of needs
is not that of joint good, quite the
contrary The more things a man
must have for himself. the less will
he do for his neighbor, even for those
who are attached to him by the ties
of blood.
Diminution of happiness, indepen-
dence, moral delicacy, even the senti-
ments of solidarity, such is the result
of the reign of needs. One could add
multitude of other evils. of which
the least is not the shaking of the
public fortune and health. The So
cieties which have the greatest needs
absorb themselves in the present, and
sacrifice to 1t the conquests of the
pasts and the immortal future. After
us the deluge! To raze the forests
to have the money for them, eat ones
wheat in the tender blade, destroy in
one day the fruit of long labor burn
the furniture to warm themselves,
load the future with debts to make
the present moment agreeable, to
live by experiments, to SOW difficult
ties for the morrow, sickness, ruin,
; envy, hatreds-we should never finish
il we would enumerate all the mis-
deeds of this dreadful reign.
On the contrary, If we hold to SIM
pie needs, we avoid all these discom-
forts and we replace them by multi
tude of advantages. 1t is an old story
that sobriety and temperance are the
best guardians of health. To him who
observes them they spare him many
> of those miseries which sadden exist
., ence they assure him health, love
of action and intellectual equilibrium.
Whether it relates to his food, his
l clothing, his habitation, simplicity OF
taste is, besides, source of indepen-
dence and security. The more simply
you live, the more you safeguard your
l. future You are less at the mercy
l of surprises, or contrary chances. An
illness or respite from labor will not
= suffice to throw you on the pavement
u A change of situation, even notable
; one, will not unseat you. Having
/ simple tastes, it is less painful to &C
commodate yourself to the chances
L of fortune You will remain a man
while losing your position or your
. revenue, because the foundation on
X which your life rests is not your table
i your cellar. your stable, your furni