The Olden Time Series: Vol. 2: The Days of the Spinning-Wheel in New England | Page 3

from the West Indies, and dry goods from England. The common people were poor enough, in comparison with the condition of the same class at the present time, when they make as good an appearance as the wealthy did a hundred years ago. It would be safe to say that they have more comforts and conveniences in their homes to-day than the more prosperous had at the time of the Revolution. The humorist, John Phenix, said that "Gen'l Washington never saw a steamboat, nor rode in a railroad car;" and possibly his house was not heated by steam, or furnished with pipes for hot and cold water. Nor did he ever use gas, or the telegraph or telephone. Whether the people who lived then would have shown the extravagance which characterizes our time if they had possessed the means, is a question not easily to be answered; but it is certain they were more frugal than we are, if not more industrious. The Revolution left the masses of the people in rather a destitute condition, and they were forced to be economical. Their habits were so entirely different from modern habits that it would exceed our limits to undertake to draw a careful comparison. It is said that the people of those days bewailed the degeneracy of the times, and spoke of the industry and frugality of earlier periods.
NORWICH, May 6, 1784.
A correspondent observes, that the extravagances of the present day are fully demonstrated in the broadcloth coats and silk gowns,--the powder and feathers, the ruffles and cardinals, the silk stockings and feet trappings--In the feasts, the dancing parties and select companies--and what is the more melancholy, all orders and degrees help form the circle.--Where is the simplicity in dress and manners; temperance in meats and drinks, which formed the virtuous characters of our illustrious ancestors?--O! the degeneracy of the times!
Salem Gazette.
Just as our ancestors did, as Macaulay says, in the days of Charles the First; they thought they were not as good as their ancestors had been. This habit of looking back to a time so remote that "distance lends enchantment to the view," seems to be almost universal. It is this feeling of reverence for the old that makes it so interesting to us, and leads us to look at things of the past poetically rather than practically; although it is true that sometimes the interest taken in inconvenient and uncomfortable articles arises rather from their age than from anything else. But oftentimes the very simplicity, solidity, and strength of old furniture, for instance, is charming, in contrast with the elaborate, unmeaning carvings and flimsy character of more modern productions. We are beginning to see how much more sensible the Chippendale and other styles commended by Eastlake and some other writers on household art are to much that has been produced in later times. Yet we must allow that prejudice and fashion go a great way in determining our likes and dislikes, in furniture as well as in dress and other things. Very likely in a few years we shall tire of the Queen Anne houses and furniture, and hard floors, and have a surfeit of Anglomania, especially if we carry the taste too far. In this country, as Emerson says, "Every rider drives too fast." It is hard to be simple and slow. We must build fast, eat fast, and live fast. But Emerson says again, "Nature has no respect for haste." Herbert Spencer has given us in a kindly spirit some hints on this score which it would be well to heed. But we are wandering from our immediate subject. Our desire is to illustrate, in the very words of the people of the period we refer to, the views they entertained of economy and industry, and how they carried them out. We will begin, then, in the year 1759, with a curious letter to the "Boston Gazette" of June 11 of that year, in which the writer gives some account of the cost of provisions at that period.
To the Trading and Farming People of New England.
GENTLEMEN.
I Have been coming and going among you since the Year 1745. I am now once more on Service in this Part of the World, and not a little surprized at the Alteration in the Value of your Provisions, since my Knowledge of your Country. When I first came among you, I could have bought a Pound of Beef for a Penny, a Goose for a Shilling, a Fowl for three Pence, and so in Proportion. It now is, I think, four Pence Sterling for a Pound of Beef, eighteen Pence Sterling for a Fowl, and three Shillings for a Goose. Pray Gentlemen, when that is the Price at Boston, what must we pay for it at Louisbourg, after it