how poor a bargain the latter had made. I tried to
help him with my experience, telling him that he was one of my nearest
neighbors, and that I too, who came a-fishing here, and looked like a
loafer, was getting my living like himself; that I lived in a tight,
light, and clean house, which hardly cost more than the annual rent of
such a ruin as his commonly amounts to; and how, if he chose, he might
in a month or two build himself a palace of his own; that I did not use
tea, nor coffee, nor butter, nor milk, nor fresh meat, and so did not
have to work to get them; again, as I did not work hard, I did not have
to eat hard, and it cost me but a trifle for my food; but as he began
with tea, and coffee, and butter, and milk, and beef, he had to work
hard to pay for them, and when he had worked hard he had to eat hard
again to repair the waste of his system--and so it was as broad as
it was long, indeed it was broader than it was long, for he was
discontented and wasted his life into the bargain; and yet he had rated
it as a gain in coming to America, that here you could get tea, and
coffee, and meat every day. But the only true America is that country
where you are at liberty to pursue such a mode of life as may enable you
to do without these, and where the state does not endeavor to compel
you to sustain the slavery and war and other superfluous expenses
which directly or indirectly result from the use of such things. For I
purposely talked to him as if he were a philosopher, or desired to be
one. I should be glad if all the meadows on the earth were left in a
wild state, if that were the consequence of men's beginning to redeem
themselves. A man will not need to study history to find out what is
best for his own culture. But alas! the culture of an Irishman is an
enterprise to be undertaken with a sort of moral bog hoe. I told him,
that as he worked so hard at bogging, he required thick boots and stout
clothing, which yet were soon soiled and worn out, but I wore light
shoes and thin clothing, which cost not half so much, though he might
think that I was dressed like a gentleman (which, however, was not the
case), and in an hour or two, without labor, but as a recreation, I
could, if I wished, catch as many fish as I should want for two days, or
earn enough money to support me a week. If he and his family would
live simply, they might all go a-huckleberrying in the summer for their
amusement. John heaved a sigh at this, and