The black shadow of asceticism spread over the sky of the
Puritan Fathers. Given two coats, they chose the ugliest one.
Given two colors for the woman’s garb, they chose the saddest
and somberest. Given two roads, they chose the one that held
the most thorns and cutting rocks. Given two forms of fear and
self-denial, they took both. The favorite text of asceticism
is “deny yourself.” The favorite color of asceticism is black;
its favorite music, a dirge; its favorite hour is midnight;
its favorite theme is a tombstone. The mistake of asceticism
is in thinking that pain by itself considered has a moral
value.--N. D. HILLIS.
(142)
Macaulay said that “the Puritans hated bear-baiting, not because
it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the
spectators.” I once knew a man of this type who rooted up his
wife’s flower-bed on the ground that attention to flowers was a
wicked waste of time that ought to be given to the study of the
Bible.--W. C. S.
(143)