I have not sufficient reasoning faculty¹ to settlethe doctrine² of thrift——as it is consistent with the dignity of human Society——with the happiness of Cottagers——all I can do is by plump contrasts——Were the fingers made to squeeze a guinea or a white hand？Were the Lips made to hold a pen or a Kiss？And yet in Cities Man is shutout from his fellows if he is poor，the cottagermust be dirty and very wretched if she be notthrifty.——The present state of society demandsthis and this convinces me that the world is veryyoung and in a very ignorant state.——We live ina barbarous age… On our walk in Ireland we hadtoo much opportunity to see the worse than nakedness，the rags，the dirt and misery³ of thepoor common Irish—A Scotch⁴ Cottage，though inthat sometimes the Smoke has no exit but at thedoor，is a palace to an Irish one… We heard onpassing into Belfast through a most wretchedsuburb that most disgusting of all noises…I meanthe sound of the shuttle.What a tremendous difficulty is the improvement of the conditions ofsuch people.I cannot conceive how a mind“withchild” of philanthropy could grasp at possibility——with me it is absolute despair.

我没有足够的推理能力去阐述清楚节俭学说——由于它与人类社会的高尚品德是一致的——与村民的幸福是一致的——所以我所能做的一切便是借助直接的对比——手指是用来拿钱的还是握白人手的？嘴唇是用来含铅笔的还是接吻的？然而在城里，一个人如果很穷就会被拒之于他的伙伴之外；一个村民如果不节俭定会变得龌龊和非常不幸。——社会目前的状况要求人们节俭，而这使我相信我们这个世界还很年轻，还处于一种无知的状态。——我们仍生活在一个野蛮的时代。……当我们在爱尔兰随处走走时，有太多的机会看到比贫穷的普通爱尔兰人的赤身裸体、衣衫褴褛、肮脏和不幸更为糟糕的景象。一间苏格兰人的农舍，尽管有时烟雾没有出口，只有从门里冒出来，对爱尔兰人来说，却是一个宫殿。……在穿过一个肮脏破旧的城郊进入贝尔法斯特时，我们听到了一种令人再讨厌不过的嘈杂声音。……我说的是织布梭子的声音。要想改善这些人的生活状况是何等困难。我难以想象一个“孕育着”博爱之心的人何以能抓住这种可能性——对于我来说，那简直使我感到绝望。