Granted that the majority are able at last either to own or hire the modern house with all its improvements.  While civilization has been improving our houses， it has not equally improved the men who are to inhabit them.  It has created palaces， but it was not so easy to create noblemen and kings.  And if the civilized man's pursuits are no worthier than the savage's， if he is employed the greater part of his life in obtaining gross necessaries and comforts merely，why should he have a better dwelling than the former？

　　But how do the poor minority fare？  Perhaps it will be found that just in proportion as some have been placed in outward circumstances above the savage， others have been degraded below him. The luxury of one class is counterbalanced by the indigence of another.  On the one side is the palace， on the other are the almshouse and "silent poor."  The myriads who built the pyramids to be the tombs of the Pharaohs were fed on garlic， and it may be were not decently buried themselves.  The mason who finishes the cornice of the palace returns at night perchance to a hut not so good as a wigwam.  It is a mistake to suppose that， in a country where the usual evidences of civilization exist， the condition of a very large body of the inhabitants may not be as degraded as that of savages. I refer to the degraded poor， not now to the degraded rich.  To know this I should not need to look farther than to the shanties which everywhere border our railroads， that last improvement in civilization； where I see in my daily walks human beings living in sties， and all winter with an open door， for the sake of light，without any visible， often imaginable， wood-pile， and the forms of both old and young are permanently contracted by the long habit of shrinking from cold and misery， and the development of all their limbs and faculties is checked.  It certainly is fair to look at that class by whose labor the works which distinguish this generation are accomplished.  Such too， to a greater or less extent，is the condition of the operatives of every denomination in England，which is the great workhouse of the world.  Or I could refer you to Ireland， which is marked as one of the white or enlightened spots on the map.  Contrast the physical condition of the Irish with that of the North American Indian， or the South Sea Islander， or any other savage race before it was degraded by contact with the civilized man.  Yet I have no doubt that that people's rulers are as wise as the average of civilized rulers.  Their condition only proves what squalidness may consist with civilization.  I hardly need refer now to the laborers in our Southern States who produce the staple exports of this country， and are themselves a staple production of the South.  But to confine myself to those who are said to be in moderate circumstances.

　　Most men appear never to have considered what a house is， and are actually though needlessly poor all their lives because they think that they must have such a one as their neighbors have.  As if one were to wear any sort of coat which the tailor might cut out for him， or， gradually leaving off palm-leaf hat or cap of woodchuck skin， complain of hard times because he could not afford to buy him a crown！  It is possible to invent a house still more convenient and luxurious than we have， which yet all would admit that man could not afford to pay for.  Shall we always study to obtain more of these things， and not sometimes to be content with less？  Shall the respectable citizen thus gravely teach， by precept and example， the necessity of the young man's providing a certain number of superfluous glow-shoes， and umbrellas， and empty guest chambers for empty guests， before he dies？  Why should not our furniture be as simple as the Arab's or the Indian's？  When I think of the benefactors of the race， whom we have apotheosized as messengers from heaven， bearers of divine gifts to man， I do not see in my mind any retinue at their heels， any carload of fashionable furniture. Or what if I were to allow ―― would it not be a singular allowance？

　　―― that our furniture should be more complex than the Arab's， in proportion as we are morally and intellectually his superiors！  At present our houses are cluttered and defiled with it， and a good housewife would sweep out the greater part into the dust hole， and not leave her morning's work undone.  Morning work！  By the blushes of Aurora and the music of Memnon， what should be man's morning work in this world？  I had three pieces of limestone on my desk， but I was terrified to find that they required to be dusted daily， when the furniture of my mind was all undusted still， and threw them out the window in disgust.  How， then， could I have a furnished house？

　　I would rather sit in the open air， for no dust gathers on the grass， unless where man has broken ground.

　　就算大多數人最后是能夠占有或者租賃那些有了種種改善的近代房屋的吧。但當文明改善了房屋的時候，它卻沒有同時改善了居住在房屋中的人。文明造出了皇宮，可是要造出貴族和國王卻沒那么容易。如果文明人所追求的并不比野蠻人追求的來得更加高貴些，如果他們把大部分的時間都只是用來獲得粗鄙的必需品和舒適的生活，那未他何必要有比野蠻人更好的住房呢？

　　可是，那貧窮的少數人如何呢？也許可以看到一點，正如一些人的外表境遇高出于野蠻人，另一些的外表境遇就成正比例地低于他們。一個階級的奢侈全靠另一個階級的貧苦來維持。一面是皇宮，另一面是濟貧院和“默默無言的貧窮人”。筑造那些法老王陵墓的金字塔的百萬工人只好吃些大蒜頭，他們將來要像像樣樣地埋葬都辦不到。完成了皇宮上的飛檐，入晚回家的石工，大約是回到一個比尖屋還不如的草棚里。像下面這樣的想法是錯誤的：在一個有一般文明的國家里，大多數居民的情形并沒有降低得像野蠻人的那么惡劣。我說的還是一些生活得惡劣的貧窮人，還沒有說到那些生活得惡劣的富人呢。要明白這一點，不必看得太遠，只消看看鐵路旁邊，到處都有棚屋，這些是文明中最沒有改進的了；我每天散步，看到那里的人住在骯臟的棚子里面，整個冬天，門總是開著的，為的是放進光線來，也看不到什么火堆，那只存在于他們的想象中，而老少的軀體，由于長久地怕冷受苦而蜷縮，便永久地變了形，他們的四肢和官能的發展也就停頓了。自然應當去看看這個階級的人：所有這個世代里的卓越工程都是他們完成的。

　　在英國這個世界大工場中，各項企業的技工們，或多或少也是這等情形。或許我可以把愛爾蘭的情形給你提一提，那地方，在地圖上，是作為一個白種人的開明地區的。把愛爾蘭人的身體狀況，跟北美洲的印第安人或南海的島民，或任何沒有跟文明人接觸過因而沒有墮落的野蠻人比一比吧。我絲毫都不懷疑，這些野蠻人的統治者，跟一般的文明人的統治者，是同樣聰明的。他們的狀況只能證明文明含有何等的污濁穢臭！現在，我根本不必提我們的南方諸州的勞動者了，這個國家的主要出品是他們生產的：而他們自己也成了南方諸州的一種主要產品。可是，不往遠處扯開去，我只說說那些境遇還算中等的人吧。

　　大多數人似乎從來沒有想過，一座房屋算什么，雖然他們不該窮困，事實上卻終身窮困了，因為他們總想有一座跟他們鄰人的房屋一樣的房屋。好像你只能穿上裁縫給你制成的任何衣服，你逐漸放棄了棕桐葉的帽子或上撥鼠皮的軟帽，你只能對這時代生活的艱難感慨系之了，因為你買不起一頂皇冠！要發明一座比我們所已經有的，更便利、更華美的房屋是可能的，但大家承認，已有的房屋我們都還買不起。難道我們老要研究怎樣得到越來越多的東西，而不能有時滿足于少弄一點東西呢？難道要那些可尊敬的公民們，莊嚴地用他們的言教和身教，來教育年輕人早在老死以前就置備好若干雙多余的皮鞋和若干把雨傘，以及空空的客房，來招待不存在的客人嗎？我們的家具為什么不能像阿拉伯人或印第安人那樣地簡單呢？我們把民族的救星尊稱為天上的信使，給人類帶來神靈禮物的使者，當我想到他們的時候，我想來想去，想不出他們的足踵后面，會有仆役隨從，會有什么滿載著時式家具的車輛。如果我同意下面這種說法，那會怎么樣呢――那不是一種奇怪的同意嗎？――那說法就是我們在道德上和智慧上如果比阿拉伯人更為優越，那未我們的家具也應該比他們的更復雜！目前，我們的房屋正堆滿了家具，都給家具弄臟了呢，一位好主婦寧愿把大部分家具掃入垃圾坑，也不愿讓早上的工作放著不干。早上的工作呵！在微紅色的曙光中，在曼依的音樂里，世界上的人該做什么樣的早晨的工作呢？我桌上，有三塊石灰石，非得天天拂拭它們不可，真叫我震驚，我頭腦中的灰塵還來不及拂拭呢，趕快嫌惡地把它們扔出窗子去。你想，我怎么配有一個有家具的房屋呢？我寧可坐在露天，因為草葉之上，沒有灰塵，除非是人類已經玷辱過了的地方。

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