Economy.
Why has man rooted himself thus firmly in the earth, but that he may rise in the same proportion into the heavens above? - for the nobler plants are valued for the fruit they bear at last in the air and light, far from the ground, and are not treated like the humbler esculents, which, though they may be biennials, are cultiveted only till they have perfected thier root, and often cut down at top for this purpose, so that most would not know them in their flowering season.
As for Clothing, to come at once to the practical part of the question, perhaps we are led oftener by the love of novelty, and a regerd for the opinions of men, in procuring it, than by a true utility. Let him who has work to do recollect that the object of clothing is , first, to retain the vital heat, and secondly, in this state of society, to cover nakedness, and he may judge how much of any necessary or important work may be accomplished without adding to his wardrobe.
Kings and queens who wear a suit but once, though made by some tailor or dress-maker to their majesties, cannot know the comfort of wearing a suit thet fits. thay are no better than wooden horses to hang the clean clothes on.
Every day our garments become more assimilated to ourselves, recieving the impress of the wearer's character, until we hesitate to lay them aside, without such delay and medical appliances and some such solemnity even as our bodies.
No man ever stood the lower in my estimation for having a patch in his clothes; yet I am sure that there is greater anxity, commonly, to have fashionable, or at least clean and unpatched clothes, than to have a sound conscience.
But even if the rent is not mended , perhaps the worst vice betrayed is improvidence. I sometimes try my acquaintances by such test as this;- who could wear a patch, or two extra seams only, over the knee? Most behave as if they believed that their prospects for life would be ruined if they should do it.
It would be easier for them to hobble to town with a broken leg than with a broken pantaloon. Often if an accident happens to a gentleman's legs, they can be mended; but if a similar accident happens to the legs of his pantaloons, there is no help for it; for he considers, not what is truly respectable but what is respected.