Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 47.djvu/36

28 which men and women living naturally could well do without. In London, in the eighteenth century, the use of umbrellas was looked upon as effeminate. In the planning of the household, a dining room distinct from the kitchen, a parlor distinct from the dining room, a sitting room distinct from the bedroom, a bath room and water-closet, were considered useless, and are still by some people. Thus, fortunately, the bounds of luxury keep on retreating. The luxury of other days becomes, if not a necessity, an enjoyment of the present, useful or inoffensive, within the reach of a large number of men. Whether its roots lie in sensuality and vanity, as its critics affirm, or in æsthetic taste, luxury, if it is not in violation of Nature, is propagated through the instrumentality of man's imitatveimitative [sic] instinct; of his desire to conform to the ways of those in the highest ranks, and to the feelings and manners prevalent in the community. Thus luxuries are gradually transformed into decencies. Old men seldom fail to call every new fashion, and everything of the uses of which they were ignorant in childhood or mature age, a luxury.

The character of a thing in use should be judged, not according to certain ideas we form of human nature in general, but according to circumstances of time, place, climate, profession, and surroundings.

The evolution of luxury has been divided into three periods: the luxury of primitive periods, which was exemplified in patriarchal times, and in the beginning of the middle ages; luxury of flourishing and prosperous peoples, as in the modern age; and the luxury of peoples in decay, like the ancient Romans and the Orientals.

Primitive luxury is very simple. It consists chiefly in the grouping around the rich man, who is also usually of high birth, of a large number of servants supported by him, and in the practice of an extensive hospitality. The furnishings of this luxury are very limited: fine wardrobes, elegant arms, spirited horses, and rich caparisons. Though pleasant in appearance, and having a family air, this patriarchal luxury has its inconveniences, which are much less apparent in modern luxury. It creates and maintains legions of parasites and idlers. Its world of servants and clients do little work, but are supported by the labor of others. It brings no refinement in living, it is burdensome, nurses conceit, diminishes production, and deprives numbers of people of their independence, exposing them to the vices of indolence. Another phase of this primitive luxury was exhibited in the great feasts, which were characterized by quantity rather than quality, with coarse revels lasting many days. This luxury was occasional rather than permanent, and did not penetrate, as the later living did, into the whole tissue of life. The