* * * * *
WITHIN the last few years many young ladies have searched country houses
or ransacked old garrets to find spinning-wheels, which, like old
chairs, tall clocks, and warming-pans, have now become objects of
curiosity and interest to those who take a fancy to antique articles. It
has become fashionable to have these things to adorn our Queen Anne
houses. And brass andirons and shovels and tongs have come into request,
so that we may enjoy the luxury of an open wood fire, which, to our
mind, is one of the most cheerful things in this world. Some one has
remarked "that to be well-dressed gives a feeling of satisfaction that
religion fails to give;" but to us, to sit before a blazing wood fire on
a dull, cold evening, gives a feeling of comfort and delight which
surpasses anything we know of. What charming companionship in a wood
fire! Better than the company of uncongenial persons.
"Old wood to burn,"
"Old books to read:"
these are enough; we will leave out the "old wine to drink."
"This bright wood fire,
So like to that which warmed and lit
My youthful days, how doth it flit
Back on the periods nigher!
Re-lighting and re-warming with its glow
The bright scenes of my youth,--all gone out now."
Glance backward to some years before the Revolution, and we shall find a
spinning-wheel in every house, and then, probably, in constant use. Now
its place in our homes is taken by the piano. This instrument had not
then come into use. Something resembling it,--namely, the spinnet or the
harpsichord,--was to be found in some instances; but it was by no means
common to find these, for there was but little knowledge of music in
America in those days. A hundred years ago, only one or two churches in
Boston had organs, and the public taste, except in rare cases, was
decidedly against music of all kinds, especially sacred music. To show
how this was, we have heard an old lady say that when she was young,
some eighty years or so ago, "musicians, for the most part, were not
thought much of" by the most cultivated people of that time; and she
assured me that even at a later date, members of military bands, as well
as organists and violinists (then called fiddlers) were too often low
characters and men much addicted to drinking. The times were too hard
for the New England people of those days to cultivate music or indulge
in entertainments of any kind except "going to meeting." There was but
little money in circulation, and that was almost always in the form of a
depreciated currency. Gold and silver were scarce articles, and a large
proportion of the necessities of life and luxuries--if luxuries they
could be called; they would hardly be so considered by us--were imported
from England or elsewhere. The leading occupations were farming,
fishing, making New England rum, importing rum, sugar, and molasses
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.