Your wife and children, too, will have their faces
continually shining like the holiday saucers on the mantel-piece.
Now consider the conceit, the worse than arrogance of this; the
studied callous forgetfulness of the beginning of man. Did he not
spring from the earth?--from clay--dirt--mould--mud--garden soil,
or composition of some sort, for theological geology (you must look
in the dictionary for these words) has not precisely defined what;
and is it not the basest impudence of pride to seek to wash and
scrub and rub away the original spot? Is he not the most natural
man who in vulgar meaning is the dirtiest? Depend upon it, there is
a fine natural religion in dirt; and yet we see men and women
strive to appear as if they were compounded of the roses and lilies
in Paradise instead of the fine rich loam, that feeds their roots.
Be assured of it, there is great piety in what the ignorant
foolishly call filth. Take some of the Saints for an example--off
with their coats, and away with their hair shirts; and even then,
my son, so intently have they considered and been influenced by the
lowly origin of man, that with the most curious eye, and most
delicate finger, you shall not be able to tell where either saint
or dirt begins or ends.
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