,illustration3 ,title page ,popular ,amusements ,,by ,,rev4 ,j4,t4 ,,crane1 ,d4,d41 ,of the ,newark ,conference4 ,with an ,introduction1 ,,by ,,bishop ,e4,s4 ,,janes4 ,for the ,commandment is a ,lamp2 and the ,light is ,life2 and ,reproofs of ,instruction are the ,way of ,life4 ,,proverbs ,,vi1 #bc4 ,illustration3 decorative ,,cincinnati3 ,,hitchcock ,,and ,,walden4 ,,new ,,york3 ,,carlton ,,and ,,lanahan4 #ahfi4 ,entered1 according to ,act of ,congress1 in the year #ahfi1 by ,,hitchcock ,,walden1 ,in the ,clerk's ,office of the ,district ,court of the ,united ,states for the ,southern ,district of ,ohio4 ,illustration3 decorative ,,contents4 ,,introduction4 ,subject one of ,grave ,interest--,rule of ,discipline--,charles ,wesley and the ,ministers--,the ,true ,ground--,our ,destiny1 and on what it ,depends--,the ,sentiment of the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church--,how a ,minister may seek ,recreation--,how a ,layman--,recommendation1 ,page #i ,,chapter ,i4 ,,recreation ,a ,,good ,,thing4 ,city full of ,boys and ,girls1 playing--,play not wrong--,let the ,children1 the ,youth1 the ,mature1 and even the ,aged have their times of ,rest and ,recreation--,laughter as pious as ,tears--,how shall we ,play8--,the ,world wants to ,play with the ,church1 and lead us in their ,path--,total ,separation neither ,desirable nor ,possible--,one or the other must ,yield--,the ,church can not--,conscience ,resists--,principles are in the way--,the ,world can ,yield and ,lose ,nothing--,the ,world ought to ,yield1 #ag ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,true ,,recreation4 ,what is the ,aim of ,recreation8--,,rules ,,that ,,govern3 #a4 ,our ,recreations must not be ,immoral2 #b4 ,not ,damaging to ,christian ,reputation2 #c4 ,must not ,interfere with ,our ,duty2 #d4 ,must not ,injure ,health2 #e4 ,must not ,waste ,money2 #f4 ,must not ,waste ,time2 #g4 ,ought to ,improve the ,mind and the ,heart2 #h4 ,ought to ,impart ,pleasure1 ,page #ca ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,the ,,theater4 ,said to be a ,good ,place to ,learn ,history1 etc4--,some ,plays as ,good as ,sermons--,doubts--,theater always a ,haunt of ,evil--,must be so or ,fail--,the ,theater that tried to be ,respectable--,failure1 and the ,causes of it--,strategy and ,calculation--,who must be ,pleased1 and how--,immodest ,costume an ,indispensable ,attraction--,circular1 and ,reply of ,actress--,birds of ,prey--,traps ,game for them--,the fable of ,satan and the ,monk--,theater can not be ,reformed--,cage of every ,unclean ,bird--,come out of her1 my people1 #dg ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,horse-,,racing4 ,horse a ,noble ,beast1 no doubt--,races prohibited by ,civil ,law--,revived under new name--,agricultural ,fair1 and what may be seen thereat--,ludicrous side of things--,twenty gawky ,boys with their ,colts--,strange ,man and ,horse--,science--,victory--,the ,effect on gawky ,boys--,reasons against ,horse-racing--,expense--,bets--,fraud-- ,riot-- ,villainy of ,all ,sorts--,how the thing is done1 and the ,people cheated--,quotation from ,thomas ,hughes1 ,m4,p41 ,page #fc ,,chapter ,v4 ,,base ,,ball4 ,the ,ancient and ,honorable ,way--,latter-day ,absurdities--,great ,national ,game--,clubs2 how formed--,science--,professional ,players and their ,salaries--,expenses--,the ,exotics challenge the ,cupids--,game described--,victory--,supper--,speeches- -,glowing ,account in ,papers--,pain-killers--,bubble must ,burst--,decay--,reasons against the ,game as now conducted--,foolish ,exhibition--,bets--,cheating--,waste of ,money--,no ,good ,result of any sort1 #gg ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,dancing4 ,dances not all alike--,bad and ,worse--,the ,german--,mere motion not wrong--,the ,old ,gentleman and his ,exercises--,imaginary ,scene in ,happy ,family--,,reasons ,,against ,,dancing3 #a4 ,lacks the ,elements of ,true ,recreation2 #b4 ,has a ,bad ,historic ,name2 #c4 ,inconsistent with ,piety2 #d4 ,leads to ,undesirable ,associations--,evil in many ways1 ,page #hi ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,cards1 ,,chess1 ,,and ,,billiards4 ,cards an ,old ,game--,origin1 ,asiatic--,history--,horne ,tooke and ,george ,,iii--,author confesses his ,want of ,knowledge--,cards the ,gambler's ,tools--,game adds nothing to ,mind or ,heart--,dangerous to some--,betting--,reasons against ,card-playing--,,chess also ,ancient--,origin--,play a ,laborious ,nothing--,wastes ,time--,wastes ,brain-power--,hinders ,mental ,culture--,,billiards--,big ,marbles--,how ,played--,women can never become ,experts1 and ,why--,poor ,affair generally1 #aje ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,novels ,,and ,,novel-,,reading4 ,definition of a ,novel--,a ,vice of the ,age--,,four ,,maxims3 #a4 ,no ,fiction if ,little ,leisure2 #b4 ,only the ,best2 #c4 ,fiction to be but ,small ,part2 #d4 ,if any ,harm results1 ,stop at ,once--,,seven ,,reasons ,,against ,,common ,,novel-,,reading3 #a4 ,wastes ,time2 #b4 ,injures the ,intellect2 #c4 ,unfits for ,real ,life2 #d4 ,creates ,overgrowth of the ,passions2 #e4 ,produces ,mental ,intoxication2 #f4 ,lessens the ,horror of ,crime and ,wrong2 #g4 ,wars with all ,piety--,disciplinary ,rule1 #aba ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,social ,,gatherings4 ,no ,list of ,recreations ,furnished1 and ,why--,one ,suggestion1 nevertheless--,the ,indolent have ,no ,claim--,the ,busy need ,recreation--,the ,sedentary need ,air and ,sunbeams--,the ,active want ,books--,the ,solitary require ,society--,talk the ,universal ,recreation--,social ,life--,grand ,party--,more ,excellent ,way suggested--,what the ,fitzshoddies ,think--,mrs4 ,f4's ,disappointment--,mr4 ,f4 ,doubts--,miss ,f4 ,trembles--,the ,reform ,unpopular--,the ,author ,despondent in regard to it1 yet ,firm in the ,faith1 ,page #aec ,,chapter ,x4 ,,appeal ,,to ,,the ,,young ,,members ,,of ,,the ,,church4 ,word of ,exhortation--,,reasons ,,why ,,we ,,should ,,abstain ,,from ,,all ,,questionable ,,diversions3 #a4 ,our ,church has always ,condemned them2 #b4 ,solemn ,vows bind us2 #c4 ,offenses disturb our ,pastor and our ,fellow-,christians2 #d4 ,our ,errors injure the ,unconverted2 #e4 ,error mars ,usefulness2 #f4 ,compromise ,positions hard to hold1 either in ,argument or ,practice--,fight on the ,right ,line1 #afi ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,,appeal ,,to ,,the ,,church4 ,lafayette's ,witty ,illustration of ,compromises--,mr4 ,bright's ,description of ,fashionable ,religion--,compromise bad1 even as a ,policy--,the ,world despises a ,timid ,church--,methodism has ,prospered--,our ,laws strict--,folly to ,come ,down now--,how the ,worldly ,parson angled for an ,accession and caught nothing--,what ,mr4 ,b4 said--,the exact ,right is the strong ,position--,hold it--,let others ,hive the ,drones--,where other ,churches ,stand--,testimony of the ,presbyterians--,the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church ,south--,young ,men's ,christian ,association--,the ,roman ,catholic ,church--,the ,end4 ,page #ahi ,illustration3 decorative ,illustration3 decorative ,,introduction4 ,the subject of which this book treats--,popular ,amusements--is one of grave interest to the ,church and to society in general4 ,the ,discipline of the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church has always required its members and probationers1 as an evidence of religious earnestness1 to refrain from such diversions as can not be used in the name of the ,lord ,jesus1 and also from singing those songs or reading those books which do not tend to the knowledge or love of ,god4 ,in the following passages of ,holy ,scripture1 worldly amusements or pleasures are denounced by ,god3 ,he that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man4 ,therefore hear now this1 thou that art given to pleasure1 that dwellest carelessly4 ,the consequences referred to in this quotation are stated in the following verses of the chapter4 ,being lovers of pleasure more than lovers of ,god1 is classed by ,timothy as one of the worst attributes of wicked men4 ,how terrible is this statement3 ,but she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth6 ,consider1 also1 this ,scripture precept3 ,and whatsoever ye do in word or deed1 do all in the name of the ,lord ,jesus4 ,in view of these and like ,scripture utterances1 how is it possible to believe that exciting1 dissipating1 worldly amusements are compatible with spiritual life or devotional enjoyment8 ,the experience of multitudes corresponds with these teachings of the ,discipline and the ,bible4 ,take this instance4 ,on one occasion ,mr4 ,charles ,wesley was warning the people against so-called harmless diversions1 and declared that by them he had been kept dead to ,god1 asleep in the arms of ,satan1 and secure in a state of damnation for eighteen years4 ,there were three ministers present besides ,mr4 ,wesley4 ,mr4 ,meriton cried out1 ,and ,i for twenty-five6 ,and ,i1 exclaimed ,mr4 ,thompson1 for thirty-five6 ,and ,i1 added ,mr4 ,bennett1 for about seventy6 ,these cases of ,christian ministers suggest how general and how baleful is the influence of these diversions4 ,this evil1 perhaps1 is not peculiar to any clime or age4 ,diversions1 indeed1 change with the times4 ,the fashionable follies of the last century are now deemed matters of wonder and derision1 just as the follies of our day may be laughed at a hundred years hence4 ,but worldliness1 fashion1 and frivolity are always at work inventing questionable pleasures and ingenious arguments for their defense4 ,possibly it is unreasonable to expect but one opinion as to what is allowable in the way of recreation4 ,as there are various degrees of knowledge and piety in the ,church1 and various degrees of conscientiousness among even those who do not profess religion1 there will be conflicting opinions on the subject1 one condemning what another defends1 and each wondering at the scrupulousness or the laxity of his neighbor4 ,on this1 as on all other subjects1 ,christians should judge each other charitably1 but by the ,scripture standard4 ,this little volume takes what ,i believe to be the true ground in regard to the diversions discussed in it--the only ground which is defensible in theory and safe in practice4 ,the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church is strong in numbers1 in wealth1 and in social position4 ,if we maintain the strict morals and the deep spirituality--and they go together--which have hitherto been our aim1 we shall be in the years to come1 in the hands of ,god1 an instrumentality of unlimited power for good4 ,if1 on the other hand1 we become weak in our belief and lax in discipline1 the members of the ,church fashionable and frivolous1 and the ministers doubtful and indefinite in doctrine1 and feeble in utterance1 we shall lose the position we have held among the ,churches of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and ,god will raise up another people to take our place and our crown4 ,but we trust in ,god we shall never1 as a ,church1 be moved from our old foundation in doctrines or in morals4 ,though worldliness and unbelief may continue to assail her1 yet the ,church is strong in that power which overcomes the world4 ,recently the advocates of popular amusements have been both bold and insidious4 ,they have used the pulpit1 the press1 and so-called ,christian ,associations to propagate their views4 ,in some cases they recommend what are considered the less objectionable diversions to prevent indulgence in the more objectionable ones--on the principle of two evils choose the less4 ,but in morals the lesser evil always tends to introduce the greater4 ,the proposition1 therefore1 is a most mischievous one4 ,to those individuals among us who have been disturbed in their religious convictions on this question1 by the deceptive pleas of those who defend or advocate worldly amusements1 this book will be found an effective helper4 ,in it ,dr4 ,crane speaks the sentiments of the ,methodist ,church4 ,we believe the position we have hitherto held on this subject is ,scriptural and safe1 and that1 rigid as the world deems it1 our disciplinary rule is wise and needful4 ,these fashionable diversions are not necessary for the health of the body or mind1 but are harmful to both4 ,all the recreation that any pious1 sensible person needs is provided in the variety of his duties1 and the many and ample sources of rational enjoyment4 ,does the studious1 hardworking minister need recreation8 ,let him find it in turning from the severe study of theology to biography1 or poetry1 or rhetoric1 or logic8 ,does he need a still greater change8 ,let him take up for the time being astronomy1 or geology1 or history4 ,does he need physical as well as mental relaxation and change8 ,certainly he can find them in his pastoral work--in visiting the sick1 in instructing childhood1 in looking after the general interests of the ,church1 in walking1 or riding1 or attending to the interests of his family1 or enjoying their society4 ,surely1 here is a vast realm in which he can find rest and recreation both for soul and body1 and grow wiser and better all the while4 ,does the layman of the ,church need recreation as a relief from the monotonous and exhausting labors and cares that come upon him daily8 ,let him find it in gardening1 in cultivating flowers1 in reading1 in music1 in ,christian activities1 in domestic offices and intercourse1 in social visiting1 in attending instructive lectures1 in attending devotional meetings4 ,these are rational1 spiritual1 satisfying enjoyments4 ,none but the weak1 who think more of conformity to the world than of conformity to ,christ1 hanker after any other4 ,dr4 ,crane has treated this subject clearly1 ,methodistically1 and ,scripturally4 ,the book is a timely and useful addition to the literature of the ,church4 ,i trust the publishers will put it in an attractive form1 and that it will have an extensive circulation1 do good to many souls1 and bring much glory to ,god4 #d4ae ,e4,s4 ,,janes4 ,,new ,,york1 ,june #bd1 #ahfi4 ,illustration3 decorative ,,popular ,,amusements4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,recreation ,a ,,good ,,thing4 ,and the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls1 playing in the streets thereof4 ,zech4 viii1 #e4 ,the prophet thus1 as with a single stroke of his pencil1 paints a beautiful picture of peace1 plenty1 and public security4 ,in times of riot and wild disorder1 the children are kept within doors1 that they may be out of the way of harm4 ,in time of war1 children may be seen in the streets of the city2 but they are there clinging in terror to the hands of their parents1 and surrounded by the confusion and alarm of a population flying from the foe4 ,when famine reigns1 a few children may be found in the streets2 but they are the wan1 emaciated victims of hunger1 who wander from their desolate homes to beg1 with tears and outstretched hands1 for bread4 ,if the war or the famine continue its ravages1 the number of children steadily decreases4 ,in seasons of public calamity1 little children die1 as the tender blossoms of ,spring perish beneath the volleys of untimely hail4 ,in the prophetic picture1 therefore1 the numbers of the children1 their merry sports1 and the public places where they are playing1 all give token of the safety and prosperity of a people whom the ,lord protects and blesses4 ,but if this be so1 it can not be wrong for boys and girls to play4 ,a doubt upon this point would mar the representation and destroy the force of the imagery4 ,no1 let the children play--not1 indeed1 without limit2 not to the neglect of study1 nor of such useful labor as they ought to perform2 not in modes that transgress ,divine law1 nor in the company of those who will teach them corrupt language and evil deeds3 still1 let the children play4 ,let them leap1 and laugh1 and shout4 ,let them have their playthings and their pets4 ,let them not fear the sun nor the winds of heaven1 though their cheeks ripen like peaches in the light and the heat1 and though faces and garments occasionally show that man still retains an affinity for the dust whence he was originally taken4 ,let the youth have their seasons of recreation4 ,their amusements1 indeed1 ought to be of a higher intellectual type than those of little children4 ,nevertheless1 amusements are still lawful and expedient4 ,let there be times when the student shall lay aside the book1 and the clerk1 the apprentice1 and the farmer's boys and girls forget their work4 ,let the youth1 rich or poor1 humble or exalted1 at home beneath the parental roof1 or in the employ or under the care of strangers1 have their periods of rest and recreation4 ,and if the time and the mode are wisely chosen1 there will be no loss but a real gain to all concerned4 ,the student will return to the lesson with a better courage and a clearer brain1 and the fingers which are busy with the affairs of the house1 the office1 the shop1 or the field will ply their task more nimbly4 ,let middle life1 too1 immersed1 as it is1 in the cares and toils of this busy existence1 have its hours of leisure and freedom4 ,brain and muscles both need rest1 and the burden will feel the lighter for being occasionally laid aside4 ,industry is indeed a virtue4 ,let every man1 woman1 and child have something useful to do1 and do it4 ,i would not1 for one moment even1 seem to defend idleness1 or apologize for the follies of the aimless devotee of shallow pleasures2 yet ,i am persuaded that not a few of our most valued workers in fields of lofty usefulness would find their heads growing gray less rapidly if they could be induced to take an occasional rest4 ,and let the aged1 also1 have their recreations4 ,it is not unbecoming for them to devote an hour1 now and then1 to the quiet pleasures which smooth the brow and wreathe the lip with smiles4 ,in itself it is just as pious to laugh as to weep1 and there are a great many cases where it is wiser and better to laugh4 ,for the old and the young there are social enjoyments and recreations which brighten the passing moments and leave no shadow behind them2 which send us back to the graver employments of life with a lighter heart and stronger frame4 ,travelers sometimes tell us that of all the nations of the earth the ,americans have the fewest public holidays4 ,this1 if true1 is not much to be regretted4 ,a public holiday is very apt to be a public nuisance1 disturbing the peace of quiet people1 and multiplying temptations for the young and the thoughtless4 ,if there are anniversaries and days of patriotic uproar1 to which gunpowder and alcohol alone can do justice1 it must be confessed that the multiplication of them is not desirable4 ,moreover1 if custom fails to prescribe times and modes of recreation1 it leaves families and societies the freer to choose for themselves4 ,but on what principle are we to choose our recreations8 ,are we at liberty to follow the multitude1 inquiring1 not for the best reason1 but the latest fashion8 ,no intelligent ,christian will fail to see that he must be as conscientious in his play as in his work4 ,ever applicable1 ever authoritative1 the divine deposition of the unchanging principles of justice1 safety1 and right1 the holy law is designed for all hours of the individual life1 even as it is designed for all ages of the world4 ,the question of amusements for religious people is one of the great problems of the day4 ,the very successes of the ,gospel in our own land have brought upon the ,church perils which were unknown in the ages when the victories of the truth were less decisive4 ,in the ,apostolic age1 when the world was heathen1 and ,god's people a little flock in the midst of their enemies1 every man and woman was either ,christian or pagan1 one thing or the other2 the ,church and the world were separated by a chasm wide and deep1 and the only feelings common to both parties were distrust and aversion4 ,again3 not very many years ago1 in our own community1 there were few young people to be found among the members of the various ,churches4 ,the gay multitude pursued their pleasures with a reckless extravagance and a giddy disregard of the realities of life which alarmed the sober-minded1 and effectually repelled the conscientious4 ,the ,church marched in order of battle1 all eyes looking for the foe1 and all weapons bared for conflict4 ,the world1 not always in the humor for direct attack1 went on its own way1 strong in the fancied strength of numbers1 and sometimes tried to laugh1 and sometimes affected to sneer at the scruples of the pious4 ,each was a compact force1 openly wearing its own uniform and arraying itself under its own banner4 ,the antagonism was universally recognized and felt4 ,but in our own times1 and in most sections of our land1 the truth has conquered4 ,the world no longer carries on a fierce and open war against the religion of the ,bible4 ,the ,church possesses so much worth1 intelligence1 wealth1 and social power1 that the worldly part of the community feel that it would not be wise for them to try to keep aloof from the pious and set up for themselves4 ,on the contrary1 the world deems it policy to nestle close up to the ,church1 and in many cases it conducts itself so respectably1 and is so correct in outward seeming1 that it takes a sharp eye to distinguish the one from the other4 ,not setting itself in array against the truth1 but rather avowing a sort of theoretic belief of it1 the world1 after all1 is unchanged4 ,its eyes are blind1 its heart is hard1 and its aims and motives are of the earth earthy4 ,it wishes to walk by the side of the ,church1 and hand in hand with it1 but with steady pressure it draws in the direction of lax morality4 ,not having received the heavenly anointing1 it fails to see how exceeding broad the ,divine ,law is4 ,it is constantly pleading for a larger license1 a wider range of sensuous enjoyments than is consistent with the true piety which transforms and saves4 ,thus it clings to the ,church1 arguing1 inviting1 urging2 and wherever to its own dull vision the path ceases to be clear1 it sweeps off swiftly and invariably into the realms of darkness and danger4 ,and the ,church1 too1 is not in haste to separate itself wholly from the large class found just outside the line of strict religious profession4 ,we admire their intelligence and amiability1 their many worthy traits of character and conduct4 ,their companionship is pleasant1 and we would like to retain it1 and1 therefore1 we are strongly tempted1 for the sake of it1 to make concessions on the various moral questions in debate between us and them4 ,another influence is silently and yet powerfully at work4 ,unless we consent that they shall marry in the ,chinese style--without having previously exchanged a word or even seen each other's faces--our young people must have opportunities to get acquainted and form attachments4 ,in making their selections they like to take a wide range of observation4 ,a deal of skirmishing generally precedes the final conquest4 ,the young ,church-member does not feel inclined to refuse the acquaintance of moral1 intelligent1 agreeable young people simply on the ground that they are not professors of religion4 ,the young people of the world see that if they do not keep near the ,church they cut themselves off from the best portions of society4 ,without violence no rigid lines of social separation can be drawn between the ,church and the general community4 ,the two parties hold to each other1 each inviting1 pleading1 trying to draw the other in its own direction1 in the path of its own principles and tendencies4 ,the one is ready to yield all that can be conceded without an abandonment of truth and duty2 the other1 like ,herod under the influence of ,john's preaching1 fears1 and listens1 and does many things4 ,nor is it clear that utter separation is desirable4 ,we can be instrumental in saving only those who are within our reach4 ,how shall we bring others within the range of our influence1 and at the same time keep wholly beyond the range of theirs8 ,how shall we lift up others and yet not feel their weight8 ,if we drive from us all who have failed thus far to come up to our standard1 we lessen the area of our usefulness--we throw away precious opportunities to do good4 ,the ,church1 if faithful1 is not imperiled by this antagonism of moral forces4 ,it must show itself the more powerful of the two1 and overcome the world4 ,surely1 if truth is strong1 if fixed principles of action furnish a solid fulcrum on which to place our levers1 we ought to move the world1 and not the world us4 ,it follows1 therefore1 that if the young members of the ,church1 and the young people just outside the line of religious profession1 are to unite in social gatherings and recreations1 duty demands that we stand firm1 while courtesy and reason1 to say nothing of still higher motives1 require that others yield4 ,no labored argument is needed to show this4 ,the lover of frivolous pleasures can not plead that religious convictions impel him to his follies4 ,when youthful ,christians fear and resist1 saying1 ,conscience forbids1 he can not reply1 ,my conscience commands4 ,when the ,christian remonstrates1 saying1 ,to do this might imperil my soul1 the other can not answer1 ,not to do it would imperil mine4 ,the worldly can only plead that they see no evil where others see it1 and that they are ready to venture where others fear to go4 ,thus they virtually confess that they are dull in vision and hard in heart4 ,and so we can not come down to the level to which they would invite us4 ,if they desire us to meet on common ground1 we must be permitted to select the place4 ,if we yield to them1 we sacrifice our principles and our peace4 ,if they yield to us1 they lose1 at the utmost1 only a little temporary pleasure4 ,let the worldly and the gay1 therefore1 say no more about our ,puritanic notions4 ,they see1 and ought to confess1 that almost of necessity they tend to place the standard of morals too low1 and that when the ,church and the world differ in regard to what is allowable and right1 there are a thousand chances to one that the ,church is right and the world is wrong4 ,if the religion of ,christ laid no restrictions on us which the trifling mind and the unrenewed heart felt to be unwelcome1 or even burdensome1 we might well suspect that it was the invention of men4 ,illustration3 decorative ,illustration3 decorative ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,true ,,recreation4 ,and let them measure the pattern4 ,ezekiel xliii1 #aj4 ,what amusements1 then1 are rational and allowable8 and to what extent may we indulge in them8 ,we desire1 before we discuss specific modes of recreation1 to lay down certain general principles1 and indicate what we believe to be the true method of reasoning on the subject1 so that the reader1 keeping these in mind1 will see why we approve or condemn hereafter1 even when1 for the sake of brevity1 the conclusion is given in few words4 ,first of all1 then1 we inquire1 ,what is the true design of recreation8 ,the mere pleasure of the hour is certainly not the sole object at which we should aim1 regardless of all other considerations4 ,a degree of enjoyment may be desirable2 and yet the temporary pleasure is not all4 ,the true idea of rational recreation is expressed in the very name4 ,the aim is to renew1 restore1 create again4 ,it is to lay aside the more serious avocations of life for a brief space1 that we may resume them with new vigor4 ,it is to make a little truce with toil and care1 that we may return to the battle with stouter hearts and keener weapons4 ,we rest1 that we may be the better prepared for work4 ,rational recreation never loses sight of duty4 ,it teaches us to seek1 now and then1 a little leisure1 that we may be able to labor the harder and the longer2 to be gay and merry1 only that we may be the more susceptible1 in its time1 of all solemn1 holy emotion4 ,recreation1 in the true sense of the term1 is not only free from evil1 but it is full of good intents1 aiming1 above all1 to aid us in the great concerns which look beyond the horizon of the present life4 ,we shake off care1 but not conscience4 ,we do not lay aside the service of ,god and take a day to ourselves1 but strive to win the benediction pronounced upon the man that feareth always4 ,to make the discussion as practical as possible1 we name eight different points of view from which we may consider any diversion proposed to us3 #a4 ,our recreations should be innocent in themselves4 ,compared with eternal interests1 present enjoyment is as dust in the balance4 ,however exhilarating or beneficial to health the advocates of any amusement may claim that their favorite diversion is1 if there be an element of wrong in it1 it must be condemned without hesitation or reserve4 ,if it involves any transgression of ,divine law2 if it leads us to disregard the welfare of our fellow2 if the pleasure is purchased by pain wantonly inflicted upon man1 or beast1 or bird1 or insect2 if it tends to render us frivolous or reckless1 or in any way leaves us farther from ,god and heaven1 less conscientious1 less devotional1 less tender in heart1 less active and earnest in all good works1 we must condemn it1 no matter how fascinating it may be1 no matter what may be the numbers or the social position of those who favor it4 ,of all the poor excuses for sin1 one of the poorest and meanest is the plea that we trampled on the law of ,god and defied his justice for the sake of amusement4 #b4 ,our recreations must never be suffered to lessen our influence as followers of ,christ4 ,a good name is an element of strength4 ,unless those around us have confidence in our sincerity1 we are shorn of our moral power4 ,no matter how clear our integrity may be in our own eyes1 if we fail to convince the world of it2 if we seem to be less careful of obligation1 less mindful of the right than ,christians should be1 there will be a cloud of distrust hovering about us wherever we are1 and we will find ourselves shut out of some of the noblest fields of effort4 ,the world watches our recreations as well as our more weighty employments4 ,we need not1 indeed1 be governed always by the reproaches of the censorious and the complaints of the morose2 still1 it is never safe to be indifferent to popular opinion4 ,even where we discover no evident wrong1 we should not1 for the sake of mere momentary pleasure1 give ourselves to any pursuit which bears a specious name or is surrounded by doubtful associations4 ,even in ,christian communities public opinion does not tend to be fanatically rigid1 and we may be sure that what it condemns we will find it safe to avoid4 ,nor should our recreations ever be of such a character as to wound our fellow-,christians4 ,it is true1 you need not always be controlled by the views of this or that member of the ,church1 who1 perhaps1 does not abound in the intelligence and wisdom which give weight to opinion4 ,but what does your pastor think8 ,if you and he differ1 who is probably right8 ,look about you4 ,see who they are in your community who are universally acknowledged as the real disciples of ,christ1 by whose aggregate good name the ,church stands in reputation4 ,what do they think8 ,where they doubt1 you may well hesitate4 ,even if they should seem needlessly scrupulous1 you may be sure of one thing--you will not find it dangerous to follow their counsel4 ,and you have no right to treat their admonitions with indifference4 ,you can not1 without peril1 go counter to their views of duty4 ,whatever may be the abstract right or wrong of the thing in question1 this evil effect1 at least1 will follow your rejection of their advice3 you will separate yourselves from your pious exemplars and guides2 the chasm1 however narrow at first1 will widen with time2 the society of your fellow-,christians will lose its charm2 the social forces which helped1 more than you are aware of1 to hold you to your duty will lose their power2 the ,tempter will excite in your heart now anger at others1 now doubts of yourself1 and the process1 unless arrested1 will end in spiritual wreck and ruin4 #c4 ,our recreations should never be so chosen or so pursued as to interfere with the full and faithful performance of the sober duties of life4 ,childhood and youth are not1 as some fancy1 a period of mere waiting1 a sort of play spell before school begins4 ,in regard to the success of after life1 it is the hour of precious opportunities which come but once4 ,it is the foundation upon which the whole future edifice is to rest4 ,if a child should never learn the things which an infant one year old usually knows1 he would grow up in a state of idiocy4 ,in their very plays1 as we term them1 children investigate the properties of matter1 acquire ease and skill in managing the bones and muscles of their own frames1 and learn the contents of the great world1 which is all so new to them4 ,youth has its work1 and all after excellence is connected with the industry and care with which that work is done4 ,the mind is to be cultured1 the reason exercised1 the fancy curbed1 the memory stored with treasure1 the whole intellect disciplined and prepared for continuous1 patient labor4 ,in youth the avocation is to be chosen1 the great problems of time and eternity revolved1 and the solemn journey begun4 ,he that would be wise must not dream away the golden hours in empty visions of what he would like to be1 but rouse himself and prepare to encounter soberly the great duties before him4 ,he has not a moment to lose4 ,he must look and listen1 read and remember2 he must reflect1 and reason1 and judge2 he must will and do wisely and well1 and every day gather strength for other days to come4 ,if1 therefore1 diversions are of such a nature1 or are so pursued as to induce an idle1 dreamy1 inconstant frame of mind1 making it an annoyance and a burden to be summoned to real work in careful thinking or patient doing1 a resolute grapple with the plain responsibilities of ordinary life1 something is wrong4 ,when the imagination has outgrown the judgment1 and the mind revolts at reality and delights to dwell in the realms of fancy1 building destinies out of airy nothing1 we can see foreshadowed1 as we look into the future1 only bitter disappointment and failure4 #d4 ,our recreations must promote health4 ,health is the material of which efficient life is made4 ,they who squander it cut short the day which ,god assigned them1 cloud it with weakness and pain1 and lessen the practical results of living4 ,to do this willfully1 deliberately1 in the chase after mere pleasure1 is not a small sin4 ,our ,creator requires of us the wise and faithful use of the various elements of activity and power with which he has endowed us4 ,if1 then1 the hours spent in what we call diversion be followed by exhaustion2 if the evening of mirth be succeeded by a day in which the brow is clouded1 the frame languid1 the mind irritable1 the whole being disordered1 there has been something wrong1 either in the nature of the amusement or the manner in which it was pursued4 ,to be well and strong1 if we may1 is our duty4 ,our recreations should not lessen but increase our power to will and to do4 ,they are designed to sharpen the tools with which we work1 and if the process which we adopt mars the blade our methods are bad4 ,the value of the mode is to be estimated not merely by the present pleasure1 but by the power1 gained by it4 ,if the mower in the meadow is enchanted with the rattling1 ringing music which accompanies the whetting of the scythe1 but at each repetition finds the edge duller than before1 till finally he can not cut the grass at all1 he might as well be standing among those whom no man hath hired4 #e4 ,our recreations should not be unduly expensive4 ,money is power4 ,it may be made to feed the hungry and clothe the naked4 ,it may be employed in teaching the ignorant and reclaiming those that wander4 ,it plays an important part in all good works4 ,he that squanders money throws away the ability to do good4 ,he wastes his ,lord's substance4 ,in ,christ's description of the day of ,judgment1 the stress is laid1 not upon names1 professions1 and beliefs1 but the tangible fruits of piety4 ,we must beware1 therefore1 lest our self-indulgences tax our purse too heavily1 and leave too little for good deeds4 ,the hour is not far distant when the memory of one kind act will be to us the source of more pleasure than the recollection of all the selfish joys of a life-time4 ,it is to be feared that some professors of religion1 who lack neither opportunities nor means to do much1 will make rather a poor showing at the last great day4 #f4 ,recreation should never lose sight of the value of time4 ,time is one of ,god's most precious gifts4 ,it is the material of which life is made1 the field in which eternal destinies germinate1 the ,summer in which divine things grow4 ,we have no more right to lay plans to kill time than to kill ourselves4 ,the suicide rebels against the duties assigned him by ,providence1 deserts his post1 and throws from him the years otherwise allotted him4 ,the aimless1 idle soul1 without a purpose or a plan1 whom no incentive can stir1 and to whom life is a weariness1 because there seems nothing for which to live1 commits a daily suicide4 ,wealth is no excuse for uselessness4 ,when children play all their lives because their fathers worked hard from youth to old age1 they take rather a doubtful way to honor their parents4 ,if a man has no sober aim in life1 no worthy object for which he is stirring1 ,god will not hold him guiltless4 ,genuine recreation harmonizes with all high and holy enterprise4 ,it does not make us drones1 living upon the stores which the working bees of the hive have accumulated1 but teaches us1 like the son of ,saul1 weary and faint in the rapid pursuit of the foes of ,israel1 to stop for a moment to taste the honey dripping in the forest1 that our eyes may brighten1 and we press on with swifter feet4 ,genuine recreation wastes no time1 but1 on the contrary1 treasures up the golden moments with a miser's care4 ,diversions indulged in beyond measure cease1 therefore1 to be recreations1 and become a criminal waste of ,god's precious gift4 #g4 ,our recreations ought to improve the mind4 ,they should not1 indeed1 burden the mental powers2 nevertheless1 they ought not to be childish and without meaning4 ,there should always be enough of thought involved to keep the mind pleasantly and not unprofitably occupied4 ,for this reason recreation is best pursued not alone1 but socially4 ,cheerful1 intelligent conversation is itself one of the best of recreations4 ,the heart is improved1 the mind is roused into new vigor and fruitfulness1 the thoughts are wrested away from toil and care1 and smiles break through the gloom like sunshine bursting through the rifted clouds4 #h4 ,our recreations should be productive of genuine enjoyment4 ,the very idea of recreation includes that of pleasure4 ,if it leaves us sad or dull it fails of its true aim4 ,it ought to make the eye bright and the cheek glow4 ,it should have an affinity for smiles1 and pleasant words1 and mirthful thoughts which glance like the play of the northern ,aurora when the night is cloudless4 ,it should leave memories in which there is no tinge of shame or regret4 ,we attach importance to the innocent pleasure of the moment1 because the benefit is derived in no small degree from the mind's release from its burdens4 ,a company of school-girls1 silent and prim1 taking their daily march with the mechanical accuracy of soldiers1 lose half the value of the air and exercise4 ,the merchant gains little who goes on a solitary fishing excursion1 and sits gazing at vacancy1 with his brain full of invoices and sales1 units and tens1 while the fish run away with his line4 ,let the young and the old seek suitable recreation and enjoy it1 in a genial1 happy1 mirthful spirit4 ,innocent mirth is neither unchristian nor undignified4 ,if a man can not laugh1 there is something the matter with him4 ,either his morals or his liver is disordered4 ,he needs either repentance or pills4 ,some of earth's greatest and purest men have been noted for their mirthful tendencies4 ,socrates often amused himself in play with children4 ,luther loved dogs1 and birds1 and wit1 and laughter1 and by his rousing peals kept his lungs in good order for his theological wars4 ,thomas ,walsh1 one of the best1 but not the most hilarious of men1 complained that ,john ,wesley's wit and humor made him laugh more than his conscience approved2 but ,mr4 ,walsh died in his youth1 while ,mr4 ,wesley filled up the measure of eighty-eight busy1 happy years4 ,these are some of the principles which underlie the subject before us4 ,it now remains to apply these principles to specific plans and methods of recreation4 ,in the scales thus constructed let us proceed to weigh the various diversions and amusements which claim our suffrages4 ,we will look first at the more public and pretentious of these candidates for our approval4 ,illustration3 decorative ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,the ,,theater4 ,can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned8 ,prov4 vii1 #bg4 ,the theater has its apologists and advocates4 ,it is said to be a good place to learn history1 human nature1 and all that4 ,some plays are declared to be as good as a sermon4 ,assuming this to be true1 it might not be out of place to inquire how often these good plays are performed1 and how they draw4 ,what proportion does this good sort bear to the general mass of plays nightly set before the public8 ,questions multiply as we consider the subject4 ,if plays are as good as sermons1 how happens it that1 as a rule1 those who admire plays have no love for sermons8 ,moreover1 if the theater is a preacher of righteousness1 or essays to be such1 where are the gifts1 grace1 and usefulness which are the evidences of its call to the good work8 ,there may be no special lack of a certain kind of gifts1 but where is the grace8 ,does it adorn the character and conduct of the performers8 ,unless these as a class have been grievously slandered for two thousand years1 we must look elsewhere4 ,and where is the proof of moral and religious usefulness8 ,it has no existence4 ,the fact is1 to plead for the theater on the ground that its moral influence is good1 is to act a bigger farce than was ever put upon the stage4 ,when a young man1 who has been religiously trained1 begins to frequent the theater1 quiet observers see that he has taken the first step of a downward course2 and if connected with him in business relations1 or otherwise1 they govern themselves accordingly4 ,when a young man1 whose reputation has suffered by his wild and reckless conduct1 ceases to attend the play and begins to attend ,church1 his true friends begin to have hope in regard to him4 ,all who have in any degree looked into the matter1 know that the disreputable and the vile shun the ,church1 and crowd to the theater1 while many who are plying foul trades depend upon the play-house1 not only to bring the victim within their reach1 but to undermine his virtue1 lull his caution to sleep1 and prepare him to fall in the net spread for him4 ,build a theater where you will1 and straightway drinking saloons1 gambling dens1 and brothels spring up all about it and flourish under its shadow4 ,all manner of vice1 and villainy1 and shame grows green and rank in the polluted soil which it creates4 ,some years ago1 the owners of a certain theater in one of our great cities1 resolving to conduct it in a respectable way1 attempted to shut out1 as far as practicable1 all whose vocation was infamous4 ,this they thought would be easily effected by refusing admittance to every lady not accompanied by a gentleman4 ,this simple measure accomplished all that was expected of it1 and a great deal more4 ,the class aimed at were indeed excluded2 but1 alas for the proprietors6 the consequent loss of patronage was so great that the establishment no longer paid current expenses1 and the owners found themselves compelled either to close their doors altogether or open them to the cattle that herd in the upper galleries4 ,the fact is plain to all who are willing to see1 that the theater thrives by the vice and crime of the community4 ,it is a buzzard that lives on carrion4 ,to succeed it must be content to be the hunting-ground where infamy shall snare its victims1 and lead them as an ox to the slaughter4 ,more than this1 the performances and the whole arrangement must be adapted to the low moral level of an audience gathered up from the particular quarters where alone patrons can be found in sufficient numbers to make the play-house a paying institution4 ,a successful theater must be on good terms with the grogshop and the brothel4 ,the whole thing is one of strategy and calculation4 ,as the skillful angler puts on his hooks the bait at which the fish will bite most eagerly--no matter what it is1 worm or bug1 or artificial fly--so the crafty manager of a theater surveys society1 and considers what plays1 what style of acting1 what style of dress among the actors and actresses will most surely attract the crowd4 ,he is aware that the really religious portion of the community regard the ,church and the theater as antagonists1 and look upon him as one who is laboring to undo all that they are trying to accomplish4 ,he knows that many people of culture and high social position regard his profession as dishonorable and degrading4 ,these classes he leaves out of his calculation1 because they are beyond his reach4 ,but a great multitude remain1 composed1 in part1 of the young and the heedless1 fond of noise1 and show1 and excitement1 and in part of the corrupt and the vile1 the hungry beasts and birds of prey1 who want victims4 ,among these he must find his patrons and his profits4 ,in aiming to gather them into his fold1 he must gratify their peculiar taste4 ,he knows that he can please them only by keeping them well pleased with themselves4 ,will he do this by means of plays which1 from the first line to the last1 brand vice as infamous1 and exalt virtue and honor8 ,he knows his calling better4 ,the people who compose his audiences do not come to the theater to be made ashamed of themselves4 ,they would not listen to such a play1 but would go out of the house1 in the midst of the performances1 angrily muttering that when they want a sermon they will go to the ,church for it4 ,the manager must set forth more savory viands4 ,he must address himself to empty minds and cater to animal passions4 ,he that undertakes to feed a flock of crows need not provide either the manna of the ,scripture or the nectar and ambrosia of which classic fable tells4 ,as the calculations of an almanac are made for the particular latitude where it is expected to sell1 so all the arrangements and appliances of the theater are carefully adapted to those classes of society which are low both in intelligence and in morals4 ,tragedy1 to be popular1 must not only deal in crime1 but in loathsome1 nauseous crime4 ,popular comedy must ridicule religion1 and show how much better acute and crafty villainy is than simple truth and innocence4 ,immodesty is one of the attractions relied upon to draw the brutal herd4 ,the female performers on the stage must expose their persons in a style which would be branded as grossly indecent anywhere else4 ,let a fact be stated in illustration4 ,one of the high officers of the municipal government of ,london recently issued a circular1 addressed to the proprietors and managers of the various theaters1 remonstrating against the indecent costumes of the stage1 and urging reform4 ,what the effect of the appeal was upon the parties addressed does not appear2 but an actress replied1 in one of the public journals1 declaring that she is aware of all that the circular asserts1 but affirming that she and all the female performers are powerless in the case1 the managers demanding the immodest costume as one of the necessities of the drama4 ,it is not probable that the ,british stage is more corrupting and immoral than the ,american4 ,there is not a city on the face of the globe where the theater can live unless it goes down into depths of infamy1 and becomes the panderer of all vice and shame4 ,it is true that a few1 whom the world calls moral and respectable1 are sometimes found at the play-house1 but they are so few that play-writers and stage managers1 having an eye to the financial receipts and successes1 look in other directions1 and graduate the plot1 and the sentiments1 and the scenes1 and1 above all1 the costume of the performers1 for a lower moral level4 ,not seldom is the play itself a weak1 unmeaning thing1 which is intended to serve merely as a pretext for the shameless exhibitions deemed necessary in order to fill the house4 ,the theater will never be reformed4 ,the truly refined despise it1 the wise and the good abhor it4 ,it must find its support among the thoughtless1 the ignorant1 and the vicious4 ,it must be indecent or die4 ,and so it comes to this3 immodesty is a part of the stock in trade of the play-house4 ,there must be indecent exposure1 else the foul crew that frequent the theater1 and upon whose patronage it lives1 will care nothing for its performances4 ,in vain is the genius of poets and authors6 ,in vain are all the tinsel glories of the show6 ,even the play which is as good as a sermon will be a failure1 and its lofty periods be declaimed to an empty house1 unless modesty and honor are sacrificed to gratify the lowest passions of the most debased of human kind4 ,where did any evil invention of man ever bear upon its front the stamp of infamy in plainer1 deeper lines8 ,why1 then1 should those who believe in virtue sustain1 or help to sustain1 that which can not exist at all except in alliance with vice and shame8 ,how can those who believe in ,god and love his cause aid this engine of the devil8 ,do they know how valuable their help is1 and at what a price the engineers are willing to purchase even their silence8 ,when the infamous classes of society find themselves the only occupants of the theater1 they will be apt to abandon it4 ,it will not then serve their purpose4 ,rats can not live in an empty barn4 ,thieves can not live by robbing each other4 ,the seller of alcohol can not prosper long by selling to the same set of customers4 ,as soon as the drunkard has lost all1 his very presence becomes hateful to the man who has ruined him4 ,a whisky-shop resembles a college1 in that it needs a class of freshmen to replace every class that graduate4 ,and so with all forms of vice2 they need a constant supply of new victims4 ,when one set of unfortunates have been picked to the bone others must be had4 ,and thus the theater is a valuable auxiliary to certain characters1 seeing that it brings their prey within their reach4 ,how1 then1 can a ,christian hesitate one moment in regard to duty8 ,by what blindness1 by what mode of self-delusion1 can virtuous women be induced to patronize an institution which lives on the ruins of virtue8 ,how can they sit among the spectators1 and look upon wanton exhibitions and shameless exposures of person1 such as would anywhere else crimson every modest cheek with shame or redden it with the consciousness of insult8 ,how can they sit among the crowd1 while eager eyes are looking down wolfishly upon the brother1 the lover1 or the husband who sits by their side1 and foul hearts are wondering whether he ever comes to this place alone1 and whether he is beyond the reach of their subtle arts8 ,how can virtuous women consent ever to set foot within the walls of a theater1 when they know that the very air is thick with infamy and death1 and when every one who sees them there knows that they know it8 ,there is an old story to this effect3 ,an angel1 flying on some errand of mercy1 met ,satan1 who was dragging away a monk1 clad in full canonicals4 ,the angel stopped the adversary1 and demanded the release of the prisoner1 saying that his very robes showed that he was a holy man1 to whom ,satan could have no claim4 ,but he is mine1 was the emphatic reply4 ,i found him on my premises2 ,i caught him at the theater6 ,even heathen moralists and philosophers have condemned the stage as tending to corrupt public morals4 ,this was the ground taken by ,plato1 ,seneca1 and ,cicero1 two thousand years ago4 ,the early ,christian writers1 the fathers of the ,church1 denounced the theater4 ,it is safe to say that the piety and intelligence of the ,church have always condemned it4 ,john ,wesley1 the founder of our ,church1 gave his judgment in no equivocal terms3 ,the present stage entertainments not only sap the foundation of all religion1 but tend to drinking and debauchery of every kind1 which are constant attendants on these entertainments4 ,truly1 the play-house is no place for a follower of ,christ4 ,like the ,babylon of the ,revelator1 it is the hold of every foul spirit1 and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird4 ,and so we add the warning uttered by another voice from heaven1 ,come out of her1 my people1 that ye be not partakers of her sins1 and that ye receive not of her plagues4 ,even if the plays could be so far reformed as not directly to cater to the vicious and the corrupt2 if the foul birds of prey that perch aloft could be driven from the nests which they have occupied so long1 still the theater would not be a good place of resort for those who feel that they possess immortal souls4 ,the late hours1 the expense of time and money1 the character of the general audience1 and the insensible and yet powerful effect of contact with them2 the premature development and overgrowth of the passions1 the distaste created for the quiet pleasures which are safest and best for soul and body1 the rapidity with which the love of noise1 show1 and excitement becomes an overmastering passion1 too strong to be controlled by duty1 conscience1 parental authority1 or parental remonstrances and tears1 conspire to render attendance at the theater ruinous to many and dangerous to all4 ,let no ,christian go to the play-house even once4 ,if the patronage of those who go but once1 just to see how it looks1 could be wholly withdrawn1 all the theaters would feel the loss1 and some would be compelled to close their doors4 ,why should you make even one contribution to keep in motion the remorseless jaws which have devoured so many victims8 ,why should you lend your example1 even once1 to encourage the inconsiderate and the inexperienced to form the habit of attending the theater8 ,why consent to act1 even once1 as decoy duck1 to lure many1 it may be1 to their destruction8 ,illustration3 decorative ,illustration3 decorative ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,horse-,,racing4 ,and so shall be the plague of the horse4 ,zech4 xiv1 #ae4 ,the horse is1 doubtless1 a noble beast2 but1 by some strange fatality1 all sorts of thieves and cheats gather round him while living1 as do the hungry crows when he is dead4 ,horse-racing may claim a place among popular amusements1 since there is probably nothing1 except an execution1 more certain to attract a crowd4 ,in many of the ,states of the ,union horse-racing has been prohibited by law1 because of the numberless evils connected with it1 and the total absence of good4 ,within a few years1 however1 the thing has been revived under another name4 ,state and county fairs are now held for the encouragement of agriculture1 and specimens of various farm products are exhibited to edify the novice and quicken the zeal of the ambitious cultivator4 ,horses1 of course1 form a prominent feature of these exhibitions4 ,but a horse can only be half seen till he is seen in motion1 and so little trials of speed1 as they were delicately termed1 were given just to add a little interest to the show4 ,these trials of speed usurped more and more time and space1 until they have in many cases swallowed up every thing else1 and brought back the old-style horse-race1 with its crowds1 excitement1 villainy1 and vice of every kind1 and1 in fact1 every thing but the name4 ,an ,agricultural ,fair now means a plow1 a pumpkin1 a pig1 and two hundred and fifty trotting horses4 ,these fairs are almost invariably conducted with especial reference to the racing1 and not unfrequently are engineered wholly by the jockeys themselves4 ,it will hardly do for us to adopt the sneering philosophy of ,democritus1 and find nothing but matter of merriment in the sins and follies of our fellow-men2 nevertheless1 these annual country gatherings have a comic side which one must be very blind not to see4 ,the first note of preparation is the posting of immense placards1 printed in as many colors as ever ,joseph's coat knew1 and offering premiums--ten cents for the best plow1 five cents for the biggest pumpkin1 twenty cents for the fattest pig1 and one thousand dollars for the horse that can trot around a certain circle in the shortest time4 ,every gawky boy who rejoices in the possession of a long-legged colt1 reads the flaming proclamation with delight1 and straightway redoubles his diligence in training his colt and himself for the grand occasion4 ,when the eventful day comes he presents himself on the spot1 sure of winning the prize1 and of seeing his name exalted in the county paper next week4 ,he finds nineteen other gawky individuals there with1 nineteen other colts and the same ambitious expectations4 ,when they have paid their proportion of the money which is to become the prize1 and have entered in a book the names of their horses--names1 by the way1 to devise which has cost many severe mental efforts--a strange man writes the name of a horse never before heard of in that locality4 ,the contest proceeds4 ,the strange man1 who had been so still and taciturn up to this moment1 suddenly discloses amazing energy1 and shows himself an adept in all that pertains to the important business in hand4 ,he knows tricks that make the astonished rustics open their eyes wide with admiration and dismay4 ,he confuses his competitors with his bewildering maneuvers1 secures every advantage1 and urges on his own nag with a clamor and an uproar which drive the others into unlawful paces1 or make them bolt from the track altogether4 ,in short1 science distances unsophisticated nature4 ,the strange man and the strange horse sweep around the circle and rush to the goal in triumph1 while the twenty are seen struggling far in the rear1 a miserable conglomerate of dust1 disappointment1 and profanity4 ,meanwhile1 the half-dozen secret confederates of the successful jockey have been quietly mingling with the crowd1 betting with all who were willing to risk their money1 and1 of course1 winning every time4 ,thus the concourse divide into three classes1 like the notes in music2 the naturals stare1 the flats are fleeced1 the sharps win4 ,the performance being over1 the professionals joyfully divide the spoil1 praising with infinite glee the way it was done1 and venting their irrepressible hilarity in stentorian laughter and clumsy imitations of ,indian war-dances4 ,the victims return home1 the wiser ones satisfied with their recent experience1 and determined to sell their sulkies and break their horses to the plow4 ,the fools1 on the other hand1 are sure that now they know all about it4 ,they have seen a professor of high art1 and burn with ambition to be like him4 ,they buy little caps of the same pattern1 stick their hands in their pockets as nearly as possible in his style1 and converse only in the phrases current in the stable4 ,their manners1 as well as their clothes1 smell strong of the horse4 ,they devote their whole minds to the cause4 ,they know more about the last race than the last war1 and are more familiar with the names of fast trotters than with those of our great statesmen and generals4 ,they can explain the pedigree of some favorite nag in a more satisfactory manner than they can their own1 and take more pride in it4 ,the tavern is the school where they pursue their professional studies1 and the sages of the bar-room and the philosophers of the barn are their instructors4 ,in some cases idleness1 low company1 and drink produce their natural fruit2 the property inherited from the dead or dishonestly obtained from the living is soon squandered1 the victim graduates as hostler1 and1 like some devotee of olden time1 consecrates himself1 soul and body1 to the service of the brute which he admires4 ,in others1 the aspirant really reaches the high eminence at which he aims1 and becomes a first-class cheat1 learned in horse-craft and equally wise in the art of deceiving men--a restless operator in his chosen line of business1 whose advent in a neighborhood is a signal for all to be on their guard1 and at whose departure people breathe more freely4 ,the ,sports of the ,turf1 as they are called1 are a mere compound of fraud and folly4 ,betting is the soul of horse-racing1 and a thievish desire to get money without earning it is the soul of betting4 ,how many trials of speed would there be if1 by some method which man has never yet discovered1 betting on the results could be wholly prevented8 ,vice in all its forms--gambling1 drunkenness1 lying1 cheating1 profanity1 rioting1 and fighting--are the natural adjuncts of every race-course4 ,human birds of prey flock to it from under the whole heavens1 and gorge themselves to the full4 ,and with all this evil it has not one redeeming feature4 ,as an amusement it is essentially low and animal4 ,if two horses run a race1 any body who is not an idiot knows that in all probability one will come out ahead of the other2 and who but an idiot will care which it is8 ,what matters it whether a horse that belongs to some branded swindler can go a mile in three minutes or two8 ,why should people leave their useful employments1 and assemble in thousands1 from far and near1 merely to see one horse beat another horse8 ,the whole thing is senseless4 ,while there is not a single solid argument in its favor1 there are numerous and weighty objections against horse-racing4 ,it involves a fearful waste4 ,a race-horse is more expensive to keep than a family of ten children4 ,the spectators who crowd to see the race lose time and money4 ,the betting1 inseparable from the affair1 opens the floodgates of a deluge of fraud and falsehood4 ,it fires the hearts of the ignorant and inexperienced with that dangerous temptation1 a thirst for money which they have not earned4 ,the sudden losses and gains rouse the passions1 and lead to collisions1 fierce and furious1 between losers and winners4 ,the vender of intoxicating drinks will be there1 for he knows that his chances are best when there is most of uproar and excitement4 ,the professional pickpocket and the gambler will be there1 for they know that the crowds will yield them a rich harvest of ill-gotten gain4 ,the public roads in the vicinity of the race-ground will be dangerous to quiet travelers1 by reason of the multitude of vehicles which dash along furiously1 the drivers crazy with excitement and drink1 and the horses wild with the shouting and the lash4 ,and children will be there1 their sensitive natures receiving impressions every moment1 their eyes becoming accustomed to scenes of vice1 and their ears familiar with the voice of passion and profanity4 ,the members of the ,church of ,christ should never be seen at such places4 ,if one of them attending a horse-race should die there1 by casualty or sudden disease1 would it be considered good taste to name the locality in the funeral discourse8 ,would it figure well in the published obituary8 ,the path of duty is so plain that none need err4 ,let no one1 for a day or an hour1 leave the rock and plunge into this abyss of fraud and folly4 ,besides the open1 visible evils which cluster about a horse-race1 there are great gulfs of villainy which few know of1 and yet by which many suffer4 ,not seldom is the matter of victory and defeat secretly arranged days and weeks before the race takes place1 and the men who make the treacherous compact win their tens of thousands by betting in favor of the horse which it is agreed shall distance the others4 ,the habit of betting is a vice which speedily destroys all truth and honor4 ,no amusement1 so called1 which lives by betting will long retain even the semblance of honesty4 ,horse-racing is certainly not an exception to this rule4 ,its whole history is black with treachery and fraud4 ,no professed follower of ,christ can have any thing to do with it1 either in the way of active agency or secret encouragement1 without sin4 ,we can not close this chapter more appropriately than by quoting the emphatic words of ,thomas ,hughes1 an able member of the ,british ,parliament and a decided friend of the ,american ,republic4 ,he had seen in the public journals the statement that certain capitalists of ,new ,york were about to establish somewhere on the ,hudson a race-ground1 which they hoped would1 in time1 rival the doubtful glories of ,epsom and ,ascot3 ,heaven help you6 then2 for of all the cankers of our old civilization there is nothing in this country approaching in unblushing meanness1 in rascality holding its head high1 to this belauded institution of the ,british turf4 ,it is quite true that a very considerable section of our aristocracy is on the turf1 but with what result8 ,shall a man touch pitch and not be defiled8 ,there is not a man of them whose position and character has not been lowered by the connection1 while in the majority it ends in bringing down their standard of morality to that of blacklegs1 and delivering over their estates into the grasp of ,jew attorneys4 ,the last notable instance among our jeunesse doree is that of the ,duke of ,hamilton1 who succeeded to a clear #gj1jjj a year1 some three years ago1 and who is now a pensioner of his creditors in the ring1 while the old palace of the ,douglas is at the order and disposition of the celebrated ,mr4 ,padwick4 ,this gentleman1 at his ,derby dinner this year1 entertained three dukes1 two marquises1 and six earls1 and ,i believe there was only one untitled man at the board--all of these under the thumb or anxious to cultivate the esteemed favors of this 'giver of all good things4' ,just consider for one moment what our modern system of betting has brought us to4 ,a reliable tip is that which the most scrupulous young gentleman on the turf desires above all other earthly blessings before a great race2 that is to say1 some private information which may enable him to overreach his dearest friend or his own brother1 if he can induce him to take the odds4 ,illustration3 decorative ,,chapter ,v4 ,,base ,,ball4 ,and the people sat down to eat and drink1 and rose up to play4 ,exodus xxxii1 #f4 ,base ball may be made a very pleasant amusement1 wholly unobjectionable either in regard to health or morals4 ,many of our readers well remember how it used to be played by the village school-boys4 ,two of the best players volunteered1 or were elected by acclamation1 to organize the two sides4 ,the leaders tossed up a bat1 with a mark on one side of it1 to determine the first choice4 ,the winner looked around the circle of boys and made his selection2 then the other leader named a boy for his side1 and so it went on1 by alternate selections1 till all were enrolled4 ,the bat was again tossed up1 to determine who should be in first1 and then the play began4 ,how they knocked the ball1 and ran and threw the ball at each other1 and fell down in their eagerness to avoid being hit1 and laughed and shouted1 and grew hot1 and red1 and finally weary6 ,no crowd of excited spectators were there to applaud special acts of skill1 and thus spoil the sport2 no scorer noted down in his book the number of runs or of fly-catches2 no representative of the public press was there1 to prepare an extended and eloquent report1 confounding simple readers with his vocabulary of new terms2 no body inquired which side was victorious1 and all were happy4 ,and in these later days1 if a score of young men or older men would provide a basket of refreshments1 and go out into the fields by themselves and play two or three hours1 in the ancient and honorable way1 carelessly1 hilariously1 not even noticing who makes the most runs1 they would all feel the better the next day2 and the wit and humor elicited on the occasion would echo in twenty home circles for weeks to come4 ,but since it attained the dignity of being our national game1 base ball has become a ponderous and elaborate affair4 ,rules as rigid as those which govern the proceedings of the ,congress of the ,united ,states are fixed1 by general councils of men learned in the art1 and goodly volumes are published discussing the size1 shape1 and weight of balls and bats1 and determining the proper distances between the bases4 ,associations are formed1 who assume a name1 devise a uniform1 and have initiation fees and monthly dues4 ,the formation of the club1 the selection of the members1 is a very serious business1 involving1 as it does1 the fortunes of the fame of the association in its future contests for championships and newspaper honors4 ,young men are in demand who are willing to devote their whole time and mental energies to the acquisition of dexterity in throwing a ball or catching it4 ,professional players are found1 who are recruited from that idle1 shiftless1 and yet ambitious class of mortals who are ready to work with the energy of giants one day in the week at any useless task1 provided they have the privilege of lounging about the other six days1 boasting of their feats and basking in the admiration of all the little boys in the neighborhood4 ,these professionals train as carefully as prize-fighters1 and are1 in fact1 the same style of men drawn mild4 ,in some cases they hire themselves to the club for a single exhibition game2 in others1 they engage for the season4 ,their pay is ridiculously high1 considering the service rendered4 ,we hear of a club that secured one player for a thousand dollars for the season4 ,another player was induced to change his residence from one city to another1 and was set up by his employers in a store1 with a stock costing fifteen hundred dollars1 by way of securing his valuable aid on great occasions4 ,when the club is organized1 there must be daily practice for the benefit of the novices4 ,this is done often to the neglect of every thing else1 to the sore annoyance of parents and employers1 and when a good degree of skill is supposed to be gained another club1 fifty or five hundred miles away1 is invited to meet in friendly contest4 ,the newspapers announce that the ,exotics have challenged the ,cupids1 name the time and the place1 and express an ardent hope that the weather will be propitious4 ,the eventful day arrives2 play is called1 and the contest proceeds with all spirit and vigor4 ,they pitch1 they bat1 they run1 they pant1 they grow red in the face1 they perspire1 they strain their muscles and rend their garments in superhuman effort4 ,the scorers set down their marks1 the reporters of the public press scratch away at their notes1 the spectators applaud4 ,intense excitement characterizes the entire performance4 ,there is no brain power to spare on pleasantries1 no surplus breath to waste in laughter4 ,awkward episodes occur4 ,a head is broken by an erring bat1 or a finger by a ball1 or two players1 running with upturned faces and outstretched hands to catch the same descending ball1 rush together with a fearful thump1 and fall backward in collapse4 ,perhaps proceedings are still further diversified by the occurrence of a little fight4 ,the game in due time ends1 and one party or the other is declared victors by so many runs1 and the winners and the losers adjourn to a hotel and refresh themselves with a supper1 of which wine-bibbing generally forms a prominent feature4 ,speeches1 too1 are made by the talking members of each club1 expressive of the most intense admiration of each other's prowess1 and breathing unutterable friendship4 ,the reporter1 who has been presented with a complimentary ticket for this very purpose1 takes notes of what is said and done1 and the next morning the newspaper lays before an admiring world the important intelligence that the pitching of the ,cupids was superb1 the batting of the ,exotics was magnificent1 the fielding of ,jones and ,smith elicited universal applause1 the supper was all that an epicure could desire1 and the wit and eloquence of ,mr4 ,brown's speech were equaled only by the beauty and pathos of ,mr4 ,jenkins' reply4 ,while an agitated world is laboring with this startling announcement1 the principal performers stay at home and rest1 or limp wearily out to the apothecary's to make investments in pain-killers and strengthening plasters4 ,and this1 forsooth1 is the great ,national ,game4 ,it has scarce a single feature of real recreation4 ,the overwrought excitement1 the excessive physical exertion1 the absence of mental ease and conversational freedom condemn it4 ,the publicity of the performance destroys all the good that might otherwise result from it1 and1 instead of play1 makes it a mere exhibition1 whose aim is not rest but notoriety1 and whose effect upon the performer is not physical renewal but exhaustion4 ,the game itself is not in fault4 ,in its simple forms1 pursued in moderation1 with right associations1 as a recreation1 and not as an ambitious show1 it can be heartily recommended to young men who need some active outdoor amusement4 ,it may thus be made a very pleasant and not unprofitable thing4 ,in its preposterous form1 inflated into a great national game1 it is very laborious1 very expensive in time and money1 and not altogether safe for soul or body4 ,it is then not an amusement1 but a pretentious and useless display1 whose highest reward is the shallow applause of the idle and the vain4 ,it may be hazardous to one's reputation for sagacity to predict the downfall of any fashionable thing on the ground that it lacks the basis of good sense2 still1 ,i will say that the modern bubble has been blown so big1 that it seems to me that it must collapse before long4 ,if ,i mistake not1 there are already signs of decay4 ,many young men1 whose names are on the roll decline to play1 and are active members of the club only at the supper-table4 ,they pay their share of the expense of public games1 and attend1 but find it pleasant and politic to perch themselves daintily on the fence1 to smoke and applaud in the shade1 while their hired substitutes do the hard work in the hot sun4 ,in due time the novelty of the whole thing will be gone1 and then comes the end4 ,but if its having become an overgrown piece of folly were the only charge which may be made against it1 base ball1 even as cultivated by the clubs1 might survive for a time4 ,the expense is not in its favor4 ,we know of a club where the regular annual dues are twelve dollars for each member4 ,besides this there is an initiation fee to be paid by beginners1 and ,i presume extra expenses for extra occasions4 ,the club has a hundred and fifty members1 and the aggregate of regular dues can not be less than two thousand dollars a year4 ,no doubt there are clubs whose annual expenditure amounts to three times the sum named4 ,this certainly is a liberal price to pay for all the good gained4 ,there is1 however1 a much worse objection to base ball than the waste of money4 ,the vices which cluster about the race-course begin to haunt the ball-ground4 ,thievish men find that bets can be made1 and money lost and won1 at a ball match as well as at a horse-race1 and the same frauds and stratagems are employed4 ,sometimes money to the amount of fifty or even a hundred thousand dollars is staked on the result of a single match4 ,men do not need to bet large sums many times before they are ready for any trick1 however infamous1 which will enable them to win4 ,we have seen1 in a former chapter1 how a horse-race is sometimes secretly sold beforehand1 the parties to the fraud betting accordingly1 and winning every thing4 ,the same thing is not unknown1 ,i am told1 among the ball clubs4 ,a match is in contemplation4 ,a club of champions challenge another champion club1 and all possible appliances and devices are employed to attract attention1 draw a crowd1 and create an excitement4 ,while the rivals are apparently burning with intense desire for victory1 and determined to contend for it with heroic energy1 a few members of the clubs1 without the consent or knowledge of the rest1 agree so to manage that the victory shall go in a certain direction1 and for a share of the spoils thus surrender the one side to premeditated defeat1 and crown the other with false laurels4 ,i have heard of one case1 where a match game was played and many bets were pending1 and interested parties secured a given result by paying the moderate sum of three hundred dollars4 ,in fact1 so many vices are beginning to gather about the great national game1 as some foolishly term it1 that every one connected with it seems to be regarded with a degree of suspicion4 ,merchants and others1 who employ numbers of young men1 are doubtful about members of ball clubs1 and reject candidates who are connected with them4 ,this looks a little hard1 but we must remember that business men want reliable1 trustworthy clerks1 salesmen1 and book-keepers4 ,when we are trying to learn the character of a stranger every hint is of value1 and a thing about which so many things cluster can not be a recommendation4 ,illustration3 decorative ,illustration3 decorative ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,dancing ,,and ,,balls4 ,they send forth their little ones like a flock1 and their children dance4 ,job xxi1 #aa4 ,let us now turn from outdoor diversions to those amusements which do not1 of necessity1 demand daylight and space for their cultivation4 ,dancing is one of these2 and as attempts are being made at the present time to introduce it into circles whence it has hitherto been rigidly excluded1 we honor it with the first place in this part of the discussion1 and propose to give it all due attention4 ,it is presumed that the advocates of dancing will insist1 at the outset1 that we shall make a distinction among the various fashionable dances of the times4 ,it is not probable that any reader of this volume will attempt to defend the ,german1 or round dances4 ,it is a shameful1 revolting spectacle to see a young girl whirling around in the arms of a man who perhaps an hour ago was an utter stranger to her1 her head leaning upon his breast1 and their whole persons in closest contact4 ,this style is positively immodest1 corrupting1 offensive to morals1 as well as to delicacy and refinement4 ,how dare a young man propose any such performance to a lady for whom he has a shadow of respect8 ,how can any young lady1 who respects herself1 submit to it8 ,but cotillons and quadrilles1 we are told1 are different2 they are modest1 graceful1 and harmless4 ,doubtless there is a difference1 and yet they differ only as the varioloid differs from the worse disease4 ,it is not necessary to prove that the mere motion is sinful in order to condemn it2 nor need we assail the personal character of all who plead for dancing1 in one form or another1 as an innocent amusement4 ,the abstract possibility of its being so practiced as to render it a healthful exercise may be admitted4 ,i am acquainted with a gentleman of more than three-score years and ten1 whose erect form and happy face1 ruddy with health and radiant with kindness and inward peace1 are pleasant to see4 ,meeting him in the street one day1 ,i asked him how he managed to be young when he was old--how he contrived to keep up the life and bloom of ,spring amid the chill winds and gathering clouds of ,winter4 ,in reply1 he alluded reverently to the ,divine ,master1 whom he serves in gladness of heart1 as the source of all blessing1 and then added3 ,i take care of my health4 ,i take exercise4 ,i rise early in the morning1 and among the very first things that ,i do ,i put on a pair of soft slippers1 go up into the attic of my house1 and then go round and round in a circle1 on a gentle run1 till ,i am in a pleasant glow4 ,this makes me feel well and cheerful all day4 ,now1 if any advocate of dancing will practice it only as our aged friend practices his peculiar exercise1 we bring no accusation against his sanitary measures2 we have no controversy with his principles or his performances4 ,we will even go so far as to confess the beauty of certain fancy pictures of innocent dancing in the family circle1 wherein one daughter presides at the piano1 and the rest of the children whirl about in their graceful evolutions1 till father and mother feel the happy contagion1 and1 starting up1 join in the mirth2 and even the white-haired grandsire looks on admiringly1 and keeps time with his best foot1 and applauds with his cane1 and then calls the household to order for evening prayers4 ,we do not happen to know any happy family where devotion and dancing live together on such excellent terms2 nevertheless1 extraordinary things do occur in the world1 and this may possibly be among them4 ,but all this does not shake the settled conviction that it would be unwise to cultivate dancing of any sort as an amusement1 or even to tolerate it4 ,the reasons upon which this conclusion is based are numerous and weighty4 #a4 ,dancing as it is usually practiced1 and will continue to be practiced1 if at all1 lacks the elements of true recreation4 ,it is folly to talk of sending children to dancing schools1 and then confine their performances to the family circle4 ,dancing is essentially an exhibition which addresses the eye of the spectator1 and craves admiration4 ,it tends directly to cultivate the love of display and of the praise which it elicits1 a passion as avaricious in its way as the miser's greed of gold4 ,introduce dancing generally1 and of the youth who attain a degree of proficiency not a few will soon tire of the approval of the little circle1 and thirst for the applause of the multitude4 ,they who imagine that they have acquired a grace and a skill which can not fail to win the praises of all beholders1 will not be content to hide their light under the bushel of home1 and soon the performances in the private parlor will be considered of no account1 except as rehearsals for more public displays1 and the ball-room will be looked upon as the proper field where artistic ambition is to win its laurels4 ,and in this form dancing is detrimental to soul and body4 ,the late hours which it involves are a fatal objection to it4 ,the confined atmosphere in which it is practiced is injurious4 ,the style of the refreshments common on such occasions1 and the untimely hour when they are taken1 increase the evil4 ,the undue excitement exhausts instead of invigorating the vital powers4 ,the sudden transitions from the heated ball-room to the chill night air are not safe1 as many an early grave can testify4 ,these things conspire to make a ball or a dancing party a direct attack upon the health of those who attend it4 ,instead of invigorating the weak1 it requires vigor to endure the exhausting strain4 ,a single night thus spent will make its visible mark upon the face4 ,they who escape with the least injury are languid and dull1 and perhaps irritable1 for days afterward1 while some are totally unfitted for their usual avocations1 and require time to recover1 as if from an attack of illness4 ,while physical health is thus impaired or imperiled1 there is no promise of mental or moral improvement to compensate the injury4 ,there is no time for rational conversation1 and any attempt in that direction would be deemed out of place4 ,the liveliest imagination can see no moral good in the performance4 ,the whole thing produces no higher pleasure than engine-boys feel while running in search of the fire2 and in the matter of aching heads and low spirits1 it is probable that those who run with the engine and those who attend the ball are about alike the next day4 #b4 ,dancing has had a historic name4 ,there was1 indeed1 in ancient times1 a solemn religious ceremony1 which1 through the poverty of human language1 was called dancing4 ,when ,pharaoh and his host sank into the depths of the sea1 while ,israel stood safe upon the shore1 ,miriam and her maidens came forth with timbrels and with dances1 and sang to the ,lord a lofty anthem of praise and thanksgiving4 ,when ,david brought home the ark of ,god he danced before it2 but it was a strictly religious ceremony1 nothing like the caperings and curvetings of our own day4 ,there is no intimation whatever that ,miriam and her maidens1 or ,david1 ever danced except on such occasions4 ,pleasure dances have been almost universally held in bad repute4 ,the daughter of ,herodias danced to please ,herod1 as he sat at the banquet1 bewildered with wine2 but the performer was one who could lightly ask for the life of an innocent man and a devoted servant of ,god2 and the royal spectator was a tyrant1 who could carelessly order his execution4 ,in ,rome1 and ,athens1 and ,ephesus the dancing was done by the degraded and the vile1 who employed it as a means of advertising their profession4 ,the dancers of ,egypt and ,india at the present day are of the same character4 ,now1 ,i do not know that it would be right for me to denounce indiscriminately all who perform publicly in places of amusement in our cities and towns1 yet it is safe for me to say that a dancing girl1 however loudly her fame may be trumpeted by the newspapers1 finds her professional reputation every-where a bar to her reception into good society4 ,why should it be so8 ,it certainly is not because of the mere publicity of professional life4 ,if it were1 then ,miss ,dickinson and ,miss ,evans1 and scores of others1 would find themselves in the same condemnation1 instead of being honored and applauded4 ,why a female public lecturer should be respected1 and a female public dancer despised and shunned1 ,i can not understand1 unless there is something in dancing itself1 or in the character of those who have made it their profession1 that has merited condemnation4 ,ladies of the highest respectability go to hear the lecturer1 and at the close crowd around the desk to be introduced to her2 other ladies1 certainly no more scrupulous in regard to their associations1 go to see the dancer perform1 and the next day will not look at her in the street4 ,what makes the difference8 ,will the apologist for dancing explain8 #c4 ,a love for dancing parties and balls is universally deemed inconsistent with the seriousness and devotion which characterize a true ,christian4 ,dancing is regarded as the favorite diversion of the vain and the frivolous4 ,nominal ,christians may be found at balls and dancing assemblies1 but they are persons who have no weight of ,christian character1 and exert no influence in favor of religion4 ,the world1 unconvicted and careless1 rather likes such professors of religion1 because their example is an opiate wherewith to quiet an occasional pang of conscience4 ,the worldly and the prayerless think more favorably of themselves and of their prospects of heaven when they see that ,church members resemble them so closely4 ,but when the worldly man is convinced of sin1 and desires to find pardon1 he never sends for one of these unfaithful professors to give him spiritual counsel4 ,when the wicked are about to die1 they do not want prayer offered at their bedside by any of these fiddling1 dancing1 wine-bibbing1 honorary members of the ,church4 ,they name men and women of undoubted piety4 ,they suspect those who can join them in their follies and feel no condemnation4 ,they do not estimate very highly a ,christian profession which exerts so little control over those that make it4 ,nay1 rebuke a scorner for his sins1 and in many cases he will seek to defend himself by a sneering allusion to those very professors of religion who verily believe that they were making capital for their ,church by showing that it can not be suspected of being ,puritanic4 #d4 ,dancing involves undesirable associations4 ,we bring no indiscriminate accusations against those who love to dance4 ,in almost every community where it is cultivated to any great extent1 it will not be confined to any particular class nor to any one moral level4 ,still1 if we are to tell the whole truth1 it must be stated that dancing prevails less as you ascend the scale of virtue1 intelligence1 and religion1 and more as you go down to explore the realms of ignorance and vice4 ,however numerous and1 after their fashion1 respectable its votaries may be1 there is a line above which it never prevails4 ,like the deluge in the days of ,noah1 it fills the valleys first1 and covers the low places2 but1 unlike the deluge1 there are elevations which the swelling waters never reach1 heights upon which the dark tide never shows even its spray4 ,in our great cities1 those sections which are recognized as the homes and dens of vice and degradation1 the very region and shadow of death1 abound in dance-houses2 and the sound of the violin and of many trampling feet mingles nightly with the noise of rage and blasphemy1 and the hoarse clamor of bloody strife4 ,intemperance and infamy are foul birds which agree well in the same nest with dancing4 ,but as you ascend the scale1 not only the more gross forms of vice1 but the dance is left behind long before you reach the highest altitudes4 ,the devotedly pious1 the truly pure in heart1 do not dance4 ,in all ages of the ,church such spirits have always kept aloof from the follies of their times1 and had no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness4 ,they who give themselves to this amusement1 therefore1 turn away from the best examples of pure and undefiled religion1 and the noblest1 holiest fellowship within their reach4 ,they ally themselves with the worldly1 the thoughtless1 the prayerless1 the gay butterflies of fashion and soulless pleasure4 ,they throw themselves among influences in the highest degree unfavorable to sober views of life1 and the earnest1 thorough performance of its great duties4 ,they voluntarily leave the rock and the shore of safety to launch upon a treacherous stream1 the rippling music of whose waters will soon cease1 and the bloom of whose flowery banks will soon disappear1 and whose current1 silent but swift and strong1 bear them steadily away from light and hope down to despair1 remorse1 and ruin4 ,dancing wastes time1 wastes health1 scatters serious thought1 compromises ,christian character1 leads to entangling associations with frivolous minds and careless hearts4 ,it is as sure a foe to intellectual growth as to moral progress4 ,young people who are famed as beautiful dancers are generally good for nothing else4 ,the time that should be devoted to something valuable is spent in practicing posture-making before a mirror1 or a professor of the high art1 who shows them how to step so1 and so1 and so2 while ,god calls1 the ,savior waits1 life wanes1 and the tremendous realities of the eternal world every moment come nearer4 ,even ,cicero1 the heathen moralist1 affirms that no man in his senses will dance4 ,the dancing-master is the devil's drill-sergeant1 just as the theater is the devil's church4 ,illustration3 decorative ,illustration3 decorative ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,cards1 ,,chess1 ,,and ,,billiards4 ,abstain from all appearance of evil4 #a ,thess4 v1 #bb4 ,cards are an old game--so old that it is impossible1 not only to tell to whose ingenuity we may ascribe the useless invention1 but even to name the land or the age in which they originated4 ,they may be traced1 however1 to ,asiatic sources4 ,for many centuries the ,chinese and the ,hindoos have known the game1 and from them it has spread over the world4 ,it was cultivated by the ,moors in ,spain1 and through their agency made its way into ,italy1 ,germany1 and the other nations of the ,west4 ,in some ,european countries the pastime was prohibited by law4 ,this prohibition probably grew out of the superstitions of the times1 it being an article of popular faith that games of chance were under the control of the devil1 who gave success to those who sold themselves to his service4 ,but cards gradually came into favor among the idle and the frivolous2 and at last even royalty--as royalty was in those days--did not disdain to indulge in them4 ,samuel ,pepys1 in his amusing and instructive diary1 records that on a certain ,sunday evening in ,february1 #affg1 he found ,catherine and the ,queen of ,charles ,,ii playing cards with the ,duchess of ,york1 and one or two more1 the rooms being full of ladies and great men4 ,addison1 who wrote a little later1 continually alludes to the game as the favorite diversion of the fashionables of his times2 and such it seems to have continued among the gay and the thoughtless of ,english circles1 till about the beginning of the present century4 ,the love of it1 however1 was never universal4 ,horne ,tooke1 who assailed the corruptions and tyranny of the ,english ,government during the reign of ,george ,,iii1 and was fined and imprisoned sundry times for his hardihood1 was once introduced to the sovereign1 who entered into a careless conversation with him1 and1 among other things1 asked him if he played cards4 ,may it please your ,majesty1 was the witty reply1 ,i do not know a king from a knave4 ,it is said that cards are stealthily creeping up into circles from which they have hitherto been religiously excluded4 ,and here the writer is constrained to confess his lack of personal knowledge of the subject under discussion4 ,he is1 indeed1 aware that individual cards have their names1 and are called kings and queens1 knaves and spades2 that they are shuffled and cut1 and that a certain something is called a trick--doubtless very appropriately--but having no ambition to stand in the presence of kings of this particular dynasty1 no desire to cultivate the acquaintance of knaves of any sort1 no love of tricks of any kind1 he remains in willing ignorance even unto this day4 ,two or three times in the course of his life1 he has seen people playing cards4 ,first1 one would lay down a piece of paper with spots on it1 then another player would lay down another spotted paper1 and so it went on so long as he beheld the performance2 but the process did not seem to him to be attended by any particular result1 nor did he learn1 possibly because he did not wait and watch long enough1 whether the victory depended most on chance1 sagacity1 or mathematical calculation4 ,but there are facts which every body knows4 ,cards are the gambler's tools4 ,they are a favorite diversion of the aimless and the idle2 they have a bad name among honest people4 ,if1 as some say1 they were introduced into ,europe by a physician1 who adopted them as a means of diverting a royal patient whose intellect was shattered1 we naturally infer that no great amount of intelligence1 or strength of intellect1 is needed to qualify the player4 ,and to this inference it is not difficult to hang another--that the game is the fitting refuge of men and women who are conscious that their talents enable them to shine better in silence than in conversation4 ,whether1 according to the rules of the play1 a king is any better than a knave1 or a diamond than a club1 ,i do not claim to know1 but ,i imagine that in playing1 wit and intelligence find little more enjoyment than do the dullest and most stupid of the party4 ,one thing is certain1 there is no true utility in the game4 ,it invigorates neither body nor mind2 it adds nothing to the store of mental wealth2 and those ignorant of it lose nothing by their lack of knowledge4 ,again1 it is certain that to some minds the game is dangerous4 ,they are fascinated by it1 led into doubtful associations and evil habits1 and to ruin itself4 ,it seems that the diversion is so barren of ideas1 in itself deficient in interest1 that it becomes necessary to stake small sums of money just to give it a little life4 ,thus the first step is taken in the road that leads to the gambler's hell1 to the great joy of the demons who there watch for victims4 ,like other beasts of prey1 professional gamblers can not live by devouring each other4 ,idleness must feed upon the earnings of industry or starve4 ,vice must burrow into the granary which belongs to virtue4 ,the cool and calculating gambler will be delighted to see card-playing become fashionable among all classes of society4 ,he knows that of those who begin with playing for mere pastime1 a certain proportion will be bitten by the mania for playing for money1 and thus be brought within reach of his sharp1 remorseless claws4 ,one needs but little information in regard to card-playing to entitle him to the privilege of heartily despising it4 ,introduced1 as it would seem1 for the express purpose of reducing mental vivacity and culture to the same dead level with ignorance1 it bears the semblance of an insult to any company in which it is proposed1 wasting precious hours in a way which neither invigorates the body1 nor supplies the mind with a single valuable idea4 ,i do not see how any conscientious1 intelligent person can deem it innocent4 ,fastening with a strange power upon characters of a peculiar make1 and turning them into grist for the gambler's mill1 no prudent person will deem it safe4 ,indeed1 the history of every gambling den in the great cities of our own country1 as well as in other lands1 shows that the passion for cards1 and the hope of winning money by them1 often becomes an utter overmastering infatuation1 almost worthy the name of insanity1 which renders the victim reckless of the claims of honor1 religion1 and the tenderest affections of our nature1 and drags him down relentlessly to his doom4 ,wholly barren of good results1 prodigal of the precious time which ,god allots for nobler purposes1 void of every element of rational recreation1 to right minds unsatisfactory and to some minds unsafe1 we need not wonder that the degree in which card-playing has prevailed at any given period of history1 is a fair index of the corruption of the age4 ,let no professed follower of ,christ defile his or her hands with so suspicious a thing4 ,,chess claims to be a more intellectual1 and even more ancient1 game than cards4 ,its history and its principles have been set forth in goodly volumes4 ,poetry has sung its charms4 ,the lives of its famous players have been written and their methods described1 and a whole library of its peculiar literature has grown up around it4 ,its admirers trace its history for five thousand years1 and inform us that it originated among the acute1 dreaming inhabitants of ,india4 ,the chess-player plumes himself on the aristocratic character of his favorite amusement1 as if it placed him above the level of common mortals4 ,in some points chess is less objectionable than cards4 ,it does not depend on chance1 and there is little opportunity to cheat4 ,moreover1 where the players are skillful1 it requires a long while to complete a game4 ,for these reasons1 as ,i suppose1 chess has never been adopted1 so far as ,i can learn1 by the professional gambler2 and1 therefore1 its historic name and present social standing are better4 ,mind challenges mind1 and skill alone wins the victory in the duel of intellect4 ,chess is not likely to become epidemic4 ,it is so deep a game2 it demands so much of time and silence for the contest2 it employs so small a number at once1 that the gay and the thoughtless1 who are in most danger from irrational amusements1 will care little for it4 ,still1 if the reader needs a hint1 and is glancing along these pages in search of it1 he may weigh the suggestions which follow4 ,nobody who assumes to play chess at all is willing to be known as a poor player4 ,to play well1 or even respectably1 involves a great deal of study and practice1 and the spending of much time and mental energy2 enough1 in fact1 to learn one of the dead languages4 ,the game so taxes the intellect that it can not be resorted to as a relaxation from mental toil4 ,there is no physical exercise in it1 no courting of the sunlight and the breeze2 therefore1 it can not be made a good recreation for the sedentary4 ,it conveys no new ideas1 makes no additions to our accumulations of mental treasure2 and1 therefore1 it is a poor business for those who need their leisure hours for mental improvement4 ,chess is not popularly a recreation1 but a pastime2 that is1 a way of passing the time2 and the time thus passed is wasted4 ,many a man1 bewitched with chess1 which has left his mind unfurnished and his heart untouched1 has spent over it precious days and years1 which1 if rightly improved1 would have made him intelligent1 wise1 and greatly useful in his generation4 ,they who fear ,god ought not thus to waste the golden moments4 ,if the regular duties of the day leave certain hours at our disposal1 these hours are too valuable to be dreamed away over a painted board1 and a handful of puppets4 ,the sedentary need air and active exercise1 which will expand the lungs1 and clothe the whole frame with strength4 ,those whose labor is chiefly that of the hands1 need books and newspapers4 ,the student1 the clerk1 the apprentice1 the daughter at home1 have more important moves to make than those of the chessboard1 a wiser way to employ brain power than to spend it on a laborious nothing1 a better warfare to wage than the petty antagonisms of useless skill1 a record to make in the ,book of ,life worth infinitely more than a life-long shout of this world's shallow praise of checks and champions4 ,,billiards are simply big marbles1 only this and nothing more4 ,authorities on the subject inform us that the table for playing the game must be twelve feet long1 and six feet wide1 the top being of slate1 covered with cloth4 ,around the raised edges are cushions of ,india rubber1 and sundry pockets4 ,instead of employing his thumb and fingers to shoot his marble1 as in the original game1 the billiard player uses a stick4 ,there are two sorts of sticks--a long one called a cue1 and a short one termed a mace4 ,one writer confesses that the cue is the thing1 and the only thing1 for the expert to use2 but advises ladies to be content with the mace1 since to execute finely with the cue sometimes requires the assumption of attitudes which are not becoming female attire1 or to the modesty of the sex4 ,just so4 ,by all means1 let the ladies1 however ambitious1 stick to the mace1 even if it is considered merely as the implement for novices4 ,perhaps we ought to condole with the ladies on the distressing dilemma in which this places them4 ,the mace confesses awkwardness2 the cue is forbidden4 ,they are doomed to remain forever novices in the higher art1 or sacrifice delicacy to ambition4 ,but what is the game8 ,the expert player places his hand on the table a few inches from the ball1 and resting his cue upon it and bending over to look along the stick1 studies the situation with the motionless attitude and fixed gaze of a hungry toad taking aim at a fly4 ,then with the end of his stick he strikes the ball1 which1 if his calculations are correct1 goes in a certain direction1 hits another ball1 and then goes somewhere else4 ,and this is all4 ,it is true1 to be able to make the ball go exactly in the right direction1 and stop at the right point1 requires1 as our author declares1 immense practice2 yet the higher achievement attainable is to cause one marble to hit another1 and drop into a pocket4 ,this statement of the true character of the game is about all that needs to be set forth to condemn it among intelligent1 thoughtful people4 ,it has nothing in it to inform1 refine1 or in any way improve the mind4 ,the only mental faculties cultivated are those which judge of distances1 angles1 and muscular forces4 ,to aim at skill is to sacrifice months and years of valuable time to a very mean ambition4 ,it is the favorite device of the saloon and the grog-shop1 the bait to entice men from their homes in the evening1 and keep them till midnight1 drinking1 smoking1 and telling indecent stories4 ,there is method and design in the pother which the newspapers make over matches and champions1 as if the honor of nations were involved in the success of those who volunteer to represent them in petty contest4 ,it is expected that the idler and the spendthrift will be attracted to the place2 and in the crowd the seller of alcohol will find customers1 and the swindler victims4 ,billiards figure very low in the scale of amusements4 ,associated as it generally is with late hours1 confined air1 smoking and drinking1 the game is detrimental to health1 to morals1 and to mind4 ,kept clear of evil associations1 there is nothing in it to attract the intelligent and the thoughtful4 ,and seeing that the righteous are generally called home when their work is done1 the professor of religion1 who can find nothing better to do than play billiards1 need not expect to live long4 ,illustration3 decorative ,illustration3 decorative ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,novels ,,and ,,novel-,,reading4 ,of making many books there is no end4 ,eccl4 xii1 #ab4 ,what is a ,,novel8 ,a recent writer thus defines it3 ,a novel is a portraiture of something new falling within the domain of fancy or imagination1 with its interest centering in love4 ,if this be correct1 it would seem that a novel1 as such1 is neither good nor bad1 but is the one or the other according to its own individual character4 ,to portray something new is certainly not wrong if the portraiture be true1 and there be a good reason for the portrayal4 ,there is a place1 also1 for fancy and imagination in the legitimate operations of the mind2 nor does the fact that the interest centers in love necessarily condemn it4 ,true love1 such as ,god designed to exist among the families of men1 is a golden chain which binds in the best and purest friendship known on earth4 ,genuine1 honest1 rational love needs to be cultivated1 not rebuked and repressed4 ,it needs the controlling and formative influences of intelligence1 reason1 and religion1 and may1 therefore1 be discussed by the press and on the platform or even in the pulpit4 ,and yet novel-reading has become one of the great vices of our age4 ,multitudes care for nothing but light reading4 ,the bookstores abound with works of fiction4 ,the records of our public libraries show that there are more readers in this department than any other--perhaps more than in all the rest4 ,the literature which finds its way into the hands of our people1 as they journey by land or water1 is almost invariably fictitious4 ,our weekly periodicals1 secular and religious1 often have their serial story4 ,our ,sunday school libraries have been overwhelmed by the flood of weak and washy literature till scarce a vestige of sober history or real biography shows itself above the surface of the wild wilderness of waters4 ,a whole generation of young people are growing up1 to whom solid books are unknown1 to whom the great historic names of the past are but a sound1 and whose ignorance of the world of fact is poorly compensated by their acquaintance with the world of dreams4 ,it is a rule in political economy that demand creates supply4 ,as all kinds of readers addict themselves to fiction1 so all sorts of writers press into this wide and productive field1 and exhibit results of every degree of badness1 with now and then something of better quality4 ,it is not easy for the young to find their way through this labyrinth of good and evil1 the good little and the evil infinite4 ,the safest rule1 in whose application the fewest mistakes will be made1 is that of ,,total ,,abstinence4 ,to declare that all the wild fruit of a certain forest is poisonous1 and to prophecy the death of every one who eats a single berry there1 may be contrary to truth2 nevertheless1 if nine out of ten of the kinds found there are deadly1 and none but a well-taught observer is able to distinguish between the good and the evil1 the warning to be given to the inexperienced is1 ,touch not1 taste not4 ,in regard to novels this is often the only available rule4 ,but if we are required to give more discriminating advice1 there are four maxims which are plain1 and1 if faithfully adhered to1 will1 ,i think1 be found safe4 #a4 ,if you have but little time for reading1 spend none of it on works of fiction4 ,your success in life1 your happiness1 usefulness1 and safety in the world depend upon your intelligence1 your good sense1 your moral character1 your modes of living4 ,what you are to be and what you are capable of accomplishing will depend1 in no small degree1 upon what you know4 ,you require solid information4 ,you need to learn ten thousand things which are to be found in books4 ,your usefulness in the circles to which you belong and your position in the community are intimately connected with the degree in which you improve your mind4 ,you have much to do4 ,you have no time to waste on counterfeit coin while golden treasures of knowledge woo you on every side4 ,read your ,bibles4 ,read history1 the records of the past1 and the accounts of current events4 ,read the biographies of good men and women4 ,read books of science4 ,push your researches in every direction1 delve in every mine that opens before you4 ,traverse every rich field that invites your footsteps4 ,discipline your mind1 store your memory2 train your will to all high resolves4 ,if your lot in life is such that little time can be given to intellectual culture1 do not waste an hour on the idle dreams of the novelists4 #b4 ,in any case read only the best works of fiction4 ,supposing that the time which you are able to devote to books is not narrowed down to an occasional leisure hour1 and you feel disposed to glance at the department of fiction1 read only the best4 ,books are companions4 ,choose your company wisely4 ,where a multitude surround you1 the pious and the profane1 the virtuous and the vile1 the refined and the brutish1 it is madness to associate with all that come4 ,you know what the effect upon your good name would be if you were seen walking arm in arm with those whose very presence is dishonor4 ,there are books so vile that the mere possession of them is fatal to reputation4 ,you will find people whose minds are so empty1 and whose talk is so frivolous1 that the time spent in their society is lost4 ,there are many books of the same sort4 ,you will meet still other people with whom you can not spend an hour without feeling that you have learned something worth knowing1 that you have received an impulse in the direction of the true1 the beautiful1 and the good1 and that you are wiser1 purer1 stronger because of the interview4 ,there are books of this kind also4 ,for the same reason1 then1 that you keep the best company to which you have access1 read the best books within your reach4 ,they will influence you as certainly as will living associates4 ,there are some few works of fiction which are well written and true to nature1 and which inculcate the right and condemn the wrong4 ,if you read fiction at all1 read these4 ,i do not name them1 because ,i am not willing to be held responsible for all the time which might possibly be spent over them on the plea that they are here recommended4 ,if you do not know which they are1 you will lose nothing by waiting till you are better informed4 ,as for the bad1 their name is ,legion4 #c4 ,in all cases let works of fiction form but a very small part of what you read4 ,read only the best1 and read only a few even of the best4 ,or1 if you want a more definite rule1 read ten good1 substantial works to every one of fiction1 however good4 ,the best works of imagination go but a little way in supplying the mental aliment which you need4 ,you can not live on the odor of flowers1 nor build up strong bone and muscle out of rainbows and moonbeams4 ,you will grow in intelligence1 sense1 virtue1 practical power for good only by means of solid food4 ,portraitures of something new1 falling within the domain of fancy1 with their interest centering in love1 may please for the moment1 but if you get nothing better your soul will be as poor and lank as the lean kine of ,pharaoh's dream4 ,confining your reading of this sort to the least objectionable of the class1 you must add another restriction1 in order to be safe1 and confine the time thus spent to your leisure moments--what remains after you have given due attention to better things4 #d4 ,cease wholly to read fiction the moment you find that it begins to render substantial reading distasteful1 and the common duties of life irksome1 or injure you in any way in mind or morals4 ,the man who has tampered with some intoxicating drug until an artificial want1 a new1 imperious appetite1 has been created1 is on the road to ruin1 so they have already done themselves a fearful wrong who have indulged in the intoxications of fiction1 until they are restless and unsatisfied without it1 and unostentatious every-day life1 such as belongs to the vast majority of mortals1 seems tame1 dull1 void of interest1 so that the mind can with difficulty be held to its common-place details and duties4 ,and the same question may be made a test in both cases4 ,what effort will it cost to stop8 ,will it require a mighty struggle1 an agony of soul1 a summoning of all concentrated power of will8 ,then summon the power and form the high resolve without a moment's delay1 for life and death tremble in the balance4 ,are virtue and honor so far undermined that the victim is ready to take refuge in hypocrisy and lies1 denying in public and indulging in secret8 ,alas6 it is to be feared that the work of ruin is already done4 ,at all events1 only one hope remains4 ,there must be a quick and thorough reform1 a sudden sundering of the chains which bind to the body of death4 ,in the matter of novels1 are you uncertain whether the point of peril has been reached in your own case8 ,try yourself4 ,lay aside light reading2 take up some solid work1 and see if you can so interest yourself in it that you keep on to the end without impatience1 without a temptation to hurry over the tiresome task4 ,if1 like the ,hebrews in the wilderness1 you find it a weary march through a dry land1 where you are haunted at every step by the recollection of the savory flesh-pots which you have left behind you1 be assured that you can not escape too soon4 ,the real question is whether you are not too far gone to escape at all4 ,error in regard to the reading of fiction is fraught with so many evils1 that the rules given1 stringent as they may seem1 are abundantly justified4 ,let our young people be constantly on their guard against the mental enslavement which marks the confirmed novel-reader4 ,common novel-reading is a fearful evil1 and against it there are arguments numerous and weighty1 which all will do well to heed4 #a4 ,it wastes precious time4 ,by universal consent1 works of fiction are called light literature2 and the name is correctly applied4 ,to produce them belongs to light thinkers1 men and women whose purposes1 principles1 and convictions are all light--the light-weights of the world of mind and morals4 ,how strangely the name of ,martin ,luther1 ,john ,wesley1 or ,george ,washington would sound connected with the authorship of a fanciful story whose interest centers in love6 ,the names which illumine the historic page with the purest light are those which it would amaze us to find connected with the authorship of ordinary fiction4 ,it is worth while to pause and inquire why we would be surprised4 ,is not this the solution3 that men of real greatness1 working in thorough earnest1 under the influence of profound conviction1 are too busy with the events and duties of the age in which they live to find time to spin out of nothing a dream life for the amusement of idle minds8 ,it is evident that but little is gained by the instructions of teachers so inferior as are the great mass of novel-writers4 ,their productions are too easy reading to discipline the mind4 ,they aim chiefly to amuse the reader1 not instruct1 nor convince1 nor raise him to the height of a great purpose2 and1 in general1 the best that can be said of the best of them is1 that they confer pleasure without inflicting injury4 ,but whatever may be the quality1 you may be sure that excess in quantity is injurious4 ,the vast majority of novel readers are young1 and for them to squander the precious hours is suicidal4 ,youth1 wasted1 ushers in a feeble middle life and an unhappy old age4 ,they who sow nothing in the ,spring will lament over an ,autumn which brings no fruit4 ,novel-reading is simply a diversion1 a pastime1 and to spend more than an occasional hour in diversion1 however innocent it may be in itself1 is a waste of time1 too precious to be thus thrown away4 #b4 ,excessive light reading injures the mind4 ,the novelist seeks to bear his readers along without any labor on their part4 ,they simply witness the action1 and watch the unfolding of the plot4 ,the author amuses them with wit and humor2 and1 if he can1 melts them with pathos1 or charms them with eloquent description4 ,he is the performer1 and they are the spectators4 ,if he is one of the best of his class1 they may improve a little in some branches of knowledge1 provided they are content to read slowly enough for the purpose4 ,but habitual novel-readers hurry on to see how it all comes out1 seldom pausing to consider the force of a figure1 or the beauty of an expression4 ,ingenious thought1 keen discrimination in depicting character1 accurate descriptions of natural scenery1 nice points of style1 are lost in the rush of words4 ,there is a headlong race of event after event1 shadows and light1 storm and calm1 and at last an end1 a rapid panorama1 little of which is seen distinctly while it is passing1 and still less is remembered when it is past4 ,the intellect does not grow strong playing with straws thus1 where there is no exercise of the judgment on what is read1 no effort of the memory to retain any thing4 ,the novel-reader that does little or nothing but lounge about with a weak dilution of literature in hand1 will soon become as soft and flabby in mind as in muscle1 wholly incapable of lofty purposes and worthy deeds4 #c4 ,excessive light reading tends to unfit for real life4 ,a devourer of novels seldom has an appetite for any thing else4 ,to do our duty well1 we must have our thoughts upon it1 and our minds interested in it4 ,the heart and the hands must go together1 or the hands will soon tire1 and do their work indifferently4 ,what chance is there for the student who indeed holds ,blackstone or ,wood before his dreamy eyes1 but whose thoughts are upon the unfinished romance in his desk8 ,how can the daughter at home find happiness in aiding to bear the burden of domestic cares1 while her mind is in a whirl over some delicious love-story1 in which she has lost her identity in that of the fascinating ,lady ,something1 with four desperate rivals for her hand1 and the crisis of her fate just over-leaf8 ,works of fiction would be less doubtful reading if the reader1 after finishing the last page of the story1 utterly forgot the whole1 or remembered it only as we remember veritable history4 ,the loss in that case would be chiefly loss of time4 ,but as things are1 novel-readers spend many a precious hour in dreaming out clumsy little romances of their own1 in which they themselves are the beautiful ladies and the gallant gentlemen who achieve impossibilities1 suffer unutterable woe for a season1 and at last anchor in a boundless ocean of connubial bliss4 ,nor does it require much previous mental cultivation to enable one to indulge in these visionary joys4 ,the school-boy and school-girl1 the apprentice1 the seamstress1 the girl in the kitchen1 can conjure up rosy dreams as readily as other people2 and perhaps more readily1 as it requires but little reading of the sort to render them impatient of their lot in life1 and set them to imagine something that looks higher and better4 ,in fact1 the ,cinderella of the old nursery story is the true type of thousands of our novel-readers4 ,they live a sort of double life-one in their own proper persons1 and in their real homes2 the other as ideal lords and ladies in dream-land4 ,ella1 sitting among her native cinders1 is a very prosaic individual1 addicted to exceedingly prosaic employments1 and fulfilling a destiny far removed from sublimated romance4 ,but touched by the wand of the good ,fairy1 ,ella is transfigured1 her coarse garments are robes of magnificence1 the mice are prancing steeds1 the pumpkin is a coach1 and she rides in state1 the admiration of all beholders1 and weds the prince triumphantly4 ,the modern ,ella1 sitting among the cinders1 has indeed no good ,fairy to confer sudden splendors upon her2 but her place is well supplied by sundry periodicals1 designed for just this style of readers4 ,and so ,ella invests her six cents weekly1 and reads1 and dreams4 ,according to the flesh1 she bears an honest1 humble name1 busies herself with a cooking stove1 or a noisy sewing-machine1 and with all her matrimonial anglings1 perhaps has never a nibble4 ,in her other capacity she is the ,countess of ,moonshine1 who dwells in a ,castle of ,spain1 wears a coronet of diamonds1 and to whom ardent lords and smitten princes make love in loftiest eloquence2 and she is blest4 ,but1 as ,napoleon once observed1 there is only a step between the sublime and the ridiculous4 ,at any moment the coach of state may relapse into its original squash1 the prancing horses again become mice1 the costly array turn once more to rags2 and the ,countess1 sweeping in her trailing robes through the glittering crowd of admiring lords and envious ladies1 subside into her former simple self1 with the hideous onions to be peeled1 or the clattering machine to be kept in motion4 ,how can the two parts of this double existence harmonize8 ,how is it possible for those whose minds are thus bewildered1 and who have formed this inveterate habit of indulging in sentimental reverie1 to engage heartily in the performance of commonplace duties8 ,the inevitable result of excessive novel-reading is a distaste1 if not an incapacity1 for the sober thought and patient effort which are the price of success in every worthy path of life4 #d4 ,excessive novel-reading creates an overgrowth of the passions4 ,the novel-reader naturally1 and perhaps unconsciously1 becomes identified with the personage in the story who is nearest to what he or she would like to be4 ,with the book in his hand1 and his whole soul for the time being wrapped up in the exciting history1 the young man ceases to be the apprentice1 the clerk1 the student1 the farmer's boy1 the plain ,john or ,peter of his real self4 ,he is merged in the hero of the story1 handsome in person1 brilliant in mind1 endowed with every excellence1 and bearing a name of at least three syllables4 ,he becomes the ardent suitor of the beautiful lady1 the heiress of the immense estate4 ,the burning words in which love is portrayed are his words4 ,the whole thing becomes so far a reality that it has something of the force of a genuine experience2 and he feels happy1 or grows melancholy with the varying futures of his imaginary passion4 ,now1 if ,peter be a boy of fifteen1 it is tolerably evident that he is advancing a little too fast in his sentimental career4 ,like a certain variety of pears described in the fruit books1 there is danger of his being rotten before he is ripe4 ,he is meditating matrimony when he has scarcely got beyond the limits of marbles and green apples4 ,he looks around at the little girls to see which of them is the princess in disguise2 and soon imagines that he is desperately in love with some little damsel in the neighborhood1 and seeing that in this dreadful world disappointment is always possible1 he begins to canvass the most picturesque and pathetic modes of committing suicide1 in case the ferocious uncle should interfere1 as he did in the book4 ,the young lady is similarly affected4 ,she fancies herself the beautiful heroine of the story1 rich1 accomplished1 and1 romantically1 wretched4 ,she1 too1 begins to look about for the model lover who lays his hand upon his heart1 lifts his tearful face toward heaven1 and says pretty things4 ,she feels disdain for the plain young men of her acquaintance1 and perhaps fixes her eyes upon some flashy stranger1 whose unknown antecedents give her a chance to invest him with all the impossible perfections her romantic fancy is able to invent4 ,now1 this state of things has its ridiculous side1 but it is not healthy nor safe4 ,the effects are too serious to be passed by with a smile4 ,the inveterate habit of day-dreaming thus created absorbs the thoughts1 destroys the mental balance1 impairs sound judgment1 and produces tendencies which are very far from the views and feelings1 aims and principles1 on which usefulness and honor in the world depend4 ,there is an overgrowth of the passions1 an exaltation of marriage out of all due proportion to other sources of rational happiness1 an overestimate of beauty1 wealth1 and the other accidentals of human life2 and a corresponding underestimate of the value of piety1 industry1 and the sober virtues which are in the sight of ,god of great price4 ,it is a vice of novelists as a class1 to exalt love and matrimony above all else1 and thus create in susceptible youth the habit of thinking and dreaming of matrimony above all else4 ,thus the novelist literally turns the heads of young people1 inasmuch as he places foremost and uppermost the faculty which the phrenologists locate low down in the back of the brain4 #e4 ,the habit of novel-reading creates a morbid love of excitement somewhat akin to the imperious thirst of the inebriate4 ,the victim of drugs does not love opium or alcohol because of its taste or smell4 ,the effect which he covets is1 in truth1 a mental effect4 ,he resorts to the drug that he may feel rich1 powerful1 exalted1 and happy1 while1 in reality1 he is wretched1 and miserable1 and poor1 and blind1 and naked4 ,the victim of novels aims at the same thing in another way1 by applying the bane directly to the mind itself4 ,but the inebriate soon finds that in order to produce the desired effect he must1 from time to time1 increase the strength of the dose4 ,he adds to the quantity4 ,then from wine he goes on to brandy1 and from that to absinthe1 drugging his deadened brain to the verge of death1 to gain1 from time to time1 a feeble return of the momentary joys which once a very little of his chosen stimulus had power to impart4 ,the experience of the confirmed novel-reader is similar4 ,the simple tales of innocent love which interest the beginner soon become commonplace4 ,they fail to excite the fancy or stir the emotions1 and then something stronger must be had4 ,quiet love and ordinary incident must give place to fierce rivalry and jealousy1 hate1 revenge1 and murder4 ,the editors of certain periodicals belonging to this style of literature seem to have decided that the public mind in general has reached this final stage4 ,i confess that my knowledge of these periodicals is not extensive1 being confined to what is gained by a passing glance at windows and hand-bills1 where their pictorial baits are thrust out to entrap buyers4 ,the pictures which greet the eyes of passengers are almost invariably pictures of somebody shooting or stabbing somebody4 ,the last embellishment which ,i have noticed1 however1 is a cut of somebody strangling the other somebody with his naked hands4 ,this is doubtless still more delightfully horrible to the admirers of this style of writing1 and calculated to thrill them with a new sensation4 ,when the mind has become so vitiated that it turns away not only from all solid reading1 but even from the less objectionable works of fiction1 to revel in nauseous descriptions of lawless passions and bloody deeds1 and is so besotted with them that every thing else is void of interest1 and every duty irksome1 how far is it removed from some of the worst evils of drunkenness or even of insanity itself8 ,how much worse is the victim of alcohol or opium than the victim of mental intoxication8 #f4 ,the habitual reading of novels tends to lessen the reader's horror of crime and wickedness4 ,crime is seldom actually committed until the mind has become familiar with the thoughts of it4 ,the books which picture passion and crime keep the readers in closest contact with evil till the horror with which they first shrank from it is gone4 ,moreover1 these books are sometimes written to serve a special purpose4 ,an author may be given to some sin which places him under the ban of respectable society4 ,he grows restive and malicious under the frowns of the good4 ,he writes a book in which his own vice is white-washed into a sort of semi-respectability1 and made merely an amiable weakness1 while some ,church member of sounding professions1 or perhaps a ,christian minister1 turns out to be the villain of the plot4 ,thus in one character we see a villain bearing the ,christian name1 and in another a hidden vice united with so many shining qualities that the moral deformity is hidden by the splendors that are thrown around it4 ,thus the reader is trained to look suspiciously upon the virtuous and smile upon the vicious4 ,if he is tempted in the direction of any particular wickedness1 his memory will easily supply him with some model from the books1 who was given to the same thing1 and was a noble character1 nevertheless1 the admiration of all about him1 generous1 brave1 and in the end successful and happy4 ,the inference of the tempted one is naturally this3 that he too can yield and be admired1 and in the end be happy4 ,aside from the fictitious respectability which vice gains by being portrayed as not incompatible with the possession of high and generous qualities1 needless familiarity with the idea of crime lessens the horror with which we regard it4 ,the more suicides in any community the more easy it is to commit suicide1 when rage and disappointment supply the temptation4 ,in communities where every man goes armed1 and every eye is familiar with scenes of blood1 small provocations lead to murder4 ,it is not irrational to assume that one reason why play-actors1 as a class1 tend to low morals is because it is a part of their regular business to personate immoral characters on the stage2 and when the mind has become thoroughly imbued with the idea1 and the lips familiar with the language of wickedness1 the step from shams to reality is short and easy4 ,thus the press becomes an apostle of unrighteousness when it lends its power to make the public mind familiar with all the phases of depravity4 ,he that delights to dwell upon the nauseous details is not morally safe1 and the vice which furnishes his choice reading is the very one into which he is liable to fall4 ,the refined and the pure shrink with loathing from needless contact with the things which they condemn and abhor4 ,i believe that the fearful multiplication of tragic crimes in our own day is due1 in no small degree1 to two causes--one the too general circulation of a corrupt literature1 which familiarizes the reader with all that is detestable and infamous in character and conduct1 the other the common use of drugged liquors1 which fire the brain with a wilder frenzy than even that which is produced by alcohol1 and drive men to their doom with a still more powerful1 relentless force4 ,in brief1 the increased prevalence of gross forms of wickedness is due to a general poisoning1 mental and physical1 which fills the minds and the veins of its victims with a more deadly venom than we have hitherto known4 ,an extract from a religious periodical1 which comes to hand while ,i am writing1 corroborates the first part of the statement made4 ,a young man--,j4,h4,w4--committed suicide recently in ,indianapolis4 ,he left a letter to his brother1 in which he says3 ',i believe that if ,i had never read a novel ,i should now be on the high road to fortune2 but1 alas6 ,i was allowed to read the vilest kind of novels when ,i was eight or nine years old4 ,if good books had been furnished me1 and no bad ones1 ,i should have read the good books with the same zest that ,i did the bad4 ,persuade all persons over whom you have any influence not to read novels4' ,the ,ordinary of ,newgate ,prison1 in his report to the ,lord ,mayor1 represents what a fruitful source of crime the ,jack ,sheppard and ,paul ,clifford style of novels has been among the youth of ,england4 ,inquiring into the causes which brought many lads of respectable parentage to the city prison1 he discovered that all these boys1 without one exception1 had been in the habit of reading those cheap periodicals which are now published for the alleged instruction and amusement of the youth of both sexes4 #g4 ,excessive devotion to fictitious reading is totally at variance with ,scriptural piety4 ,this needs neither proof nor illustration4 ,genuine piety takes hold of the heart1 and draws the thoughts and the affections toward ,god1 and makes duty the source of the sweetest enjoyment4 ,but when the novel usurps the place of the ,bible2 when secret prayer is hurried over1 or wholly neglected1 because of a burning desire to know what comes next in the story2 when meditation on divine things is forgotten in endless day-dreams of love and worldly splendor2 or1 worse still1 when real life is thrown into the shade by the unreal1 and made to appear mean and insipid2 when the action of conscience and sober reason is swept aside by the wild delirium of mental intoxication1 what result can we look for save apostasy and final ruin8 ,while ,i contemplate these things1 ,i confess that ,i am almost ready to recant the former part of this chapter1 and insert in the place of it a rigid iron rule for the guidance of all1 young and old1 learned and unlearned3 ,,total ,,abstinence ,,from ,,novel-,,reading ,,henceforth ,,and ,,forever4 ,surely1 there is abundant cause for the rule of the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church1 which warns all her communicants to abstain from reading those books which do not tend to the knowledge or love of ,god4 ,illustration3 decorative ,illustration3 decorative ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,social ,,gatherings4 ,how can one be warm alone8 ,eccl4 iv1 #aa4 ,time would fail me to examine the numerous and diversified amusements practiced in various parts of our land4 ,some are local2 others are known every-where4 ,some are right and wise2 some are otherwise4 ,some are intellectual and refined2 others are mere noisy romps4 ,of many of the older sort the chief end was kissing4 ,this latter feature may not have been particularly objectionable in little neighborhood gatherings in the country1 where every body had known every body else all their lives1 and half the young people in the room were cousins4 ,the reader1 however1 will doubtless agree in the opinion that in more general assemblies it is not over refined1 and may well give place to something else of less doubtful propriety4 ,to go through the whole list of these diversions1 and pronounce upon the merits of each1 would be tedious and useless4 ,my aim has been to discuss principles1 and then1 in the light of those principles1 to examine some of the more objectionable diversions now pleading for popular favor4 ,if those principles are as plain as ,i take them to be1 it will not be difficult to apply them to any new candidate for our suffrages4 ,the reader1 nevertheless1 may object to an abrupt close of the discussion4 ,he may say that this series of trials and condemnations is not enough1 and that he is now waiting to be informed in regard to the recreations which are allowable and right2 that having been warned against the forbidden fruit1 he would now like to see the other trees1 of which he may freely eat4 ,the suggestion is not without force2 and yet it will require but a moment's reflection to make it clear that ,i can not comply with it4 ,to attempt to make a mere list of the names of rational recreations would1 for many reasons1 be unwise4 ,in some cases games and amusements are local1 and to readers belonging elsewhere the mere name would convey no information4 ,the same name is also applied to different diversions in different localities1 and1 therefore1 approval or censure would be misunderstood and misapplied4 ,it is evident that a simple list of amusements to be condemned1 and another list of those approved1 would be of little service4 ,on the other hand1 if ,i should attempt to escape misconstruction by describing fully the amusements condemned or approved1 the whole plan of this little volume would be changed1 and it would become properly a ,book of ,diversions instead of a discussion of principles4 ,that such a work might be written--possibly not in vain--is not denied2 but it is no part of my plan to write it4 ,nevertheless1 ,i do not hesitate to offer a few practical suggestions4 ,permit me to say1 first of all1 that if any of my readers have nothing useful to do--no solid purpose in life1 no proper employment1 nor desire for any--they are counted out of this discussion4 ,the idle1 the frivolous1 the useless have no right to recreation4 ,they must reform their aimless1 empty lives1 and by industry earn the privilege of rest and relaxation before they are entitled even to hold an opinion on the subject4 ,let me add that no diversion1 no amusement can impart more than a momentary pleasure to the indolent and the listless4 ,a degree of hunger alone can prepare a man fully to enjoy his food4 ,it is the sleep of the laboring man that is sweet4 ,true recreation involves the idea of rest2 relief1 pleasant change of occupation4 ,so the active1 the busy1 the industrious alone truly enjoy recreation4 ,they who make amusement their only pursuit will soon find it utter weariness4 ,for such ,i have only pity1 and for them ,i am not writing4 ,but the active and the industrious1 who redeem the time1 are entitled to their hours and modes of recreation4 ,so far from denying it to be their privilege1 ,i proclaim it to be their duty4 ,the time and the manner must1 of course1 be adapted to their varying circumstances4 ,the school-boy and school-girl need active exercise out-of-doors1 in the light of the sun1 else they are liable to grow up colorless and spindling1 like vegetables which have sprouted in the cellar4 ,every one1 older or younger1 whose mind toils while the muscles are inactive1 needs the sunbeams and the breeze4 ,they whose employment1 on the contrary1 taxes the muscles1 while the mind is comparatively inactive1 require modes of recreation which spur the intellect1 quicken the imagination1 and store the memory with rich treasures of thought4 ,those whose daily avocation confines their thoughts to a narrow circle must find a wider range elsewhere1 and exercise their wings in longer flights4 ,they who work alone and in silence1 need society2 and those spending much of their time in a crowd will profit by an occasional hour of quiet1 solitary meditation4 ,it was a curious habit of the late ,dr4 ,archibald ,alexander1 of ,princeton1 to spend the hour of evening twilight alone in his study1 sitting in silent thought amid the deepening shadows4 ,who will say that it was not wise8 ,what lofty argument1 what profound knowledge of spiritual things1 what emotions of divine love and adoration may not have been drawn thus from the well of silence and quiet waiting8 ,the chief recreation of the world at large is conversation4 ,talking is the joy of the whole earth4 ,it is one of the great employments of life4 ,our utterances are often more important--do more good and evil than our deeds4 ,all human wisdom1 knowledge1 sentiment1 wit1 fancy1 flow in the channel of speech4 ,by words truth conquers1 reforms progress1 mind acts upon mind1 heart reaches heart1 soul converses with soul4 ,the lips may utter golden speech1 or drip with the poison of asps4 ,human breath can come like the breezes of ,paradise1 or blast like the deadly sirocco of the hot desert4 ,aside from the deep joy of worship1 and the hope of eternal life1 there is no happiness1 purer1 richer1 better than that which springs from words4 ,and there is little true recreation which does not make conversation one of its chief features1 and rely upon it as its great charm4 ,conversation implies social life4 ,and here1 in regard to social gatherings1 ,i will make a suggestion which ,i am persuaded that my readers will applaud with united voices1 and1 ,i fear1 as unanimously disregard in practice4 ,our social gatherings are apt to be too formal1 too expensive1 too large to secure the end which we have in view4 ,to give a great party once or twice a year1 and astonish the whole community by the splendor of the show1 is rather a poor way to cultivate genuine friendship4 ,it is often a fearful undertaking to those who give it1 and not very satisfactory to those who attend4 ,long and anxious debate settles on the list of the invited2 and when it is too late to remedy errors1 it is discovered that somebody has been forgotten4 ,the worry about the invitations1 the arrangements1 and the weather1 is a fearful tax upon the time and temper for weeks beforehand2 and when the eventful evening comes the fear that all will not pass off smoothly keeps the host1 and especially the hostess1 in a tremor of excitement1 which culminates with the assembling of the company1 and finds relief in their departure4 ,of the multitude who move uneasily from room to room1 it often happens that the majority are little more than mere acquaintances of the entertainers1 and of each other4 ,some are invited because we know them well1 and love their society2 others1 because they gave an entertainment some time ago1 and an invitation in return for theirs is a sort of debt of honor1 even when we suspect that their courtesy was only a little device whereby they were aiming to get into a new circle4 ,sometimes the invitations are extended so as to include some who are almost strangers1 simply because a certain number must be reached1 or the affair will be pronounced inferior to somebody else's party4 ,there is no chance for genuine conversation2 and little is heard save commonplace remarks about the crowd and the heat1 or inquiries in regard to the old gentleman with the spectacles1 or the young lady with the curls4 ,some fail to come1 whose absence annoys and vexes2 and others arrive first and stay last1 whose absence could have been borne without a pang4 ,here is one whose sharp eyes and sharper tongue are the terror of the town1 and who goes preying about1 making mental notes of every small mishap1 and every little awkward thing1 and laying up ammunition for a gossiping campaign4 ,there is another1 who sees that his or her turn to give the entertainment is not far off1 and who is carefully estimating the extent of the preparations to be made1 and calculating the expenses to be incurred1 in order to be equal to the rest1 or1 if ambitious1 to outdo them4 ,i do not wish to visit these things with ridicule4 ,they have some good features1 as well as defects4 ,they are worth something1 perhaps1 though not all that they cost4 ,and yet there is a more excellent way4 ,if we invite at one time no larger a number than our parlors will seat1 and we bring our friends together for a good1 social1 comfortable1 leisurely talk1 there might be less of display2 but would there not be more of genuine enjoyment8 ,suppose1 also1 that the company be invited by families1 including the young and the old1 the parents and the children1 the married and the unmarried4 ,let the grandsires draw their arm chairs toward each other and pour into each other's ear-trumpets the reminiscences of other days1 and laugh again over the old oft-repeated stories4 ,let the little children1 down on the floor by their side1 discourse of tops or dolls1 while middle age reasons on public events1 or discusses family matters1 and the young people are gathered around the piano or the book table2 and as each drifts about on the social current1 the spectacles and the curls impend over the same book or picture1 and the ear-trumpet be found gathering up the voices that chatter over the toys4 ,thus there might be true social pleasure without anxiety or envy1 without present uneasiness1 or heart-burnings afterward4 ,thus the aged would be cheered by the vivacity of youth2 and the gayety of youth be tempered by the wisdom of age4 ,or1 if any one fancies doing things on a larger scale1 let as many be invited as the house will hold comfortably2 and instead of coming at midnight to stay till morning1 let the company assemble early in the evening4 ,and let there be music1 and mirth1 and laughter1 and leisurely comfortable interchange of ideas1 discourse that carries no sting and leaves no wound1 but fosters gentle manners and lasting friendships4 ,if the host chooses thus to manifest his hospitality1 let there be a repast as good as need be2 but excluding all that can intoxicate4 ,moreover1 before the guests separate1 let a few moments be spent in praise and prayer1 according to the pious example of our fathers4 ,and let midnight see all the guests safe at home4 ,thus the morrow will not find them jaded in body and mind1 and irritable in temper1 but clear in brain and warm in heart1 with a tendency to smile all day long over the pleasant recollections of an evening thus innocently spent4 ,i own that ,i am not sanguine in regard to the popularity of my proposed reform1 especially in fashionable quarters4 ,young men who in the language of the day are called fast1 will pronounce this way of giving a party decidedly slow4 ,mrs4 ,fitzshoddy sees that this mode of procedure will materially lessen her chances to display her newly acquired splendors1 and thus totally extinguish her aristocratic neighbor over the way1 who failed to return her call five years ago4 ,fitzshoddy himself has serious misgivings4 ,he looks up at the social heights he would fain ascend1 and shakes his head despondingly4 ,that is not the way them fellows does things1 and you won't get among them unless you do as they do4 ,they have a crowd1 and a big fiddle1 and a dance1 and a long table with a wheelbarrow load of silver and things on it1 and lots of wine1 and all that4 ,you can't invite them to a hum-drum tea-drinking that winds up with psalm-singing and prayer4 ,they would think it was somebody's funeral4 ,miss ,arabella1 too1 who has of late given her whole mind to the devising of gear for the outside of her head--a cunning piece of strategy to divert attention from the state of things within--dreads so much conversation4 ,people get to talking of things that you never heard of1 you know1 and books that you never read1 and it is so embarrassing1 you know4 ,and then she absolutely trembles when she thinks of ,pa's bad grammar1 and his habit of shaking the windows with gigantic laughter at his own jokes4 ,many1 too1 will admit the evils of present social customs1 but be afraid to lead in innovations4 ,some will feel that to refuse to give a grand party1 after having attended a number among their acquaintances1 will look very much like repudiation4 ,still1 ,i doubt not that the intelligent and the conscientious will agree that what ,i have proposed is1 as it has been already styled1 the more excellent way4 ,i know that it will be hard to make the giddy believe that there is much enjoyment to be found in these quiet ways4 ,they want a crowd1 and noise1 and commotion4 ,and in this they judge amiss4 ,this crazy rush after excitement defeats itself4 ,as simple food and regular habits best promote health1 so simple pleasures best promote genuine happiness4 ,the joys of wine are not to be compared with the calm peace and self-mastery which belong to the temperate4 ,the whirl of the dizzy dance1 the wild excitement of the race-course1 the sensational tricks of the theater1 the whole circle of vices and fashionable follies are poor in their results1 compared with the better pleasures which arise from our nobler nature4 ,they who would enjoy life wisely and well1 must not heed every voice which cries ,lo1 here1 or ,lo1 there1 but remember that the kingdom is within4 ,illustration3 decorative ,illustration3 decorative ,,chapter ,x4 ,,appeal ,,to ,,the ,,young ,,members ,,of ,,the ,,methodist ,,episcopal ,,church4 ,i have written unto you1 young men1 because ye are strong1 and the word of ,god abideth in you1 and ye have overcome the wicked one4 ,i ,john ii1 #ad4 ,before we part1 will our young ,christian reader suffer the word of exhortation8 ,i am not unmindful of the situation in which you are placed4 ,you have associates1 intelligent1 agreeable in manners1 and not immoral1 who argue stoutly in defense of their thoughtless pleasures4 ,your conscience resists1 and yet you feel the effect of their solicitations4 ,you are sometimes almost ready to wish that your parents1 your pastor1 your class-leader1 and your own conscience would consent to your yielding1 that you might escape the pressure and feel no conflict between duty and the wishes of your gay companions4 ,let me call your attention to certain considerations1 which ,i trust will have the effect to strengthen you for the right4 #a4 ,frivolous and doubtful amusements have always been condemned by the ,discipline of our ,church4 ,our ,general ,rules do not indeed name dancing1 the theater1 and the rest4 ,had they done this1 it might have been argued that the ,discipline allows every folly not specified in the list4 ,our fathers in the ,church were too wise thus to attempt to war against an evil which assumes a thousand ,protean forms4 ,they announce a broad principle1 which condemns all such diversions as can not be used in the name of the ,lord ,jesus4 ,do you profess to be in doubt as to the true intent and meaning of the ,rule8 ,if you do1 look at the past history of the ,church4 ,which of the founders of ,methodism favored dancing8 ,did ,john ,wesley8 ,did ,fletcher or ,clarke8 ,which of them favored the theater or the horse-race8 ,did ,hedding1 or ,fisk1 or ,olin8 ,i challenge the apologists for dancing1 theaters1 and races to show that a single one of the multitude of holy men and women who have a name in our annals ever practiced or approved such diversions4 ,on the contrary1 there arise from their honored graves a great cloud of witnesses against them4 ,the devoted servants of ,god1 who shine as stars in our firmament1 and whose names are as ointment poured forth1 condemned1 feared1 abhorred them as utterly at war with the life which they were living and the work which they were doing4 ,nor were these the views of ignorant1 morose1 narrow-minded people1 soured by disappointment1 or disabled by age or disease1 but of intelligent1 happy men and women1 who served the ,lord with glad hearts and went about with smiling faces4 ,our ,church traditions are unanimous in regard to these things4 ,the testimony which they bear is uniform and strong4 ,our ,bishops and pastors are now unanimous in their judgment4 ,within the past year1 ,conference after ,conference has spoken in resolutions and pastoral addresses1 warning our young people on this subject4 ,if1 therefore1 a young man here and there among us finds that the practices into which he has fallen are at variance with the deliberate judgment of the ,wesleys1 the ,clarkes1 the ,asburys1 and the ,heddings of the past1 and all the ,bishops and pastors of the present day1 ,i respectfully suggest that he will not be liable to be convicted of excessive modesty if he should begin to suspect that his ideas on the subject are wrong1 nor of excessive caution if he should conclude to refrain from indulgence till he is better assured that it is right and safe4 ,surely no one will count it a light thing to disregard the teachings of a century of spiritual power and progress1 nor to turn a careless ear to the kind and faithful counsels of those who now watch for souls4 #b4 ,every member of the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church is bound by a solemn pledge to abstain from all questionable diversions1 such as those already named4 ,in the form given in the ,ritual for the reception of persons into the ,church after probation1 the fourth question is in the following words3 ,will you be cheerfully governed by the ,rules of the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church1 hold sacred the ordinances of ,god1 and endeavor1 as much as in you lies1 to promote the welfare of your brethren and the advancement of the ,redeemer's kingdom8 ,to this question1 so full of meaning1 each candidate for reception must answer1 before ,god and his ,church1 ,i ,,will4 7,discipline1 page #aef47 ,every member of the ,church1 therefore1 solemnly promises before ,god and the people of ,god to be cheerfully governed by the ,rules of the ,church4 ,one of these ,rules calls upon you to avoid such diversions as can not be used in the name of the ,lord ,jesus4 ,that ,rule has always been understood to condemn balls and dancing1 theaters1 attendance at horse-races1 and the whole list of corrupting amusements4 ,the logical chain1 then1 is complete4 ,every member of the ,church is bound1 in the most solemn manner1 by his or her own pledge1 fully and publicly given1 to abstain from balls1 dancing1 theater-going1 and the rest4 ,can you1 for one moment1 harbor the thought of repudiating so solemn an obligation8 ,the ,psalmist inquires1 ,lord1 who shall abide in thy tabernacle8 ,who shall dwell in thy holy hill8 ,and he thus answers his own question3 ,he that sweareth to his own hurt1 and changeth not4 ,god honors those who are faithful to their word4 ,he delights in the man who keeps his promise1 even when it is against his own temporal interests to abide by it4 ,if ,god counts it a dishonorable and wrong thing for a man to repudiate a pledge given to his fellow-man1 what will he think of those who repudiate a solemn public pledge made to him8 ,if ,god honors the integrity of the man who keeps his word when his interests seem to call upon him to violate it1 what will he say of those who violate their word when all their interests1 both temporal and eternal1 call upon them to keep it8 #c4 ,when the young people connected with the ,church are drawn into frivolous diversions1 it is a sorrow of heart to the pastor and to all devoted ,christians4 ,will it be replied that these faithful friends of years are so narrow and antiquated in their notions1 that no one need care what they think or how they feel8 ,the matter can not be disposed of thus lightly4 ,it is not a small thing for a few young men and women1 before whom real life lies yet untried1 to set up their opinions1 and blindly adhere to them1 in opposition to the solemn judgment of the whole body of the ministry4 ,it is not a small thing to wound1 deeply and wantonly1 those whose acknowledged consistency and holy lives are the joy and crown of the ,church1 and one of the main elements of its strength in the community4 ,it is by these1 and such as they1 and ,god working through them1 that we have ,bibles and ,sabbaths1 and law and order1 and civilization itself--all that exalts a ,christian country above a heathen land4 ,these devoted followers of ,christ love his ,church and his people4 ,some of them have been long in the way4 ,they feel that they are approaching the gates of the city which hath foundations1 and they are expecting daily the shadowy messenger that shall bid them enter4 ,looking to the younger members of the ,church to supply the places which they will soon leave vacant1 they may well be troubled1 and shed their tears over the gloomy future1 when they see youthful professors of religion given to vain and trifling pleasures and frivolous pursuits1 trying to break down the discipline of the ,church1 and strip ,methodism of its beauty and its power1 and wrest from its hands the spiritual weapons with which a thousand victories have been won4 #d4 ,when young ,church members become giddy and fond of worldly pleasure1 the unconverted are encouraged to go on in their sins4 ,they who are yet unsaved hear the ways of wisdom described as ways of pleasantness and peace1 but they know not how to understand the declaration4 ,they confess that it is good to have a hope of eternal life1 just as it is good to have a life-preserver about you when you are going to make a sea-voyage4 ,still1 to them piety is a mystery4 ,the deep joy of devotion1 the glow and the rapture of praise1 the blessedness of communion with ,god they can not comprehend4 ,they listen1 and wonder1 and sometimes doubt and do not know what to think4 ,but when they find that young members of the ,church are just as eager as themselves after questionable pleasures1 they conclude that these roseate pictures of the happiness of the ,christian are1 to say the least1 overdone4 ,when they see the flock trying the fence on all sides of the fold1 and stretching their heads through every opening1 to nibble at the weeds outside1 they begin to suspect that the pasture within is not as rich as it is represented4 ,thus the inconsistent conduct of professed ,christians who plunge into worldly amusements harms souls and injures a holy cause4 ,and sinners1 too1 are inconsistent with themselves4 ,now they argue that religion is all delusion1 because1 as they say1 its professors are no better than other people2 now they insist that their soulless pursuits must be right1 because even members of the ,church indulge in them4 ,thus they seek to justify their follies and their sins by the example of worldly ,church members4 ,moreover1 they will endeavor to make a little in you justify a great deal in them4 ,tell a sinner that he is not wise in attending balls1 and he will twit you with the parlor dancing at some well-known professor's house4 ,warn him against the theater1 and he will ask you to point out the moral difference between that and the play at the museum4 ,tell him that the gambling den is a dangerous place for young men1 and he will remark1 with a significant look1 that living away from home he can not play cards in his father's house1 as some do4 ,and what professors of religion do occasionally1 the unconverted1 on the strength of their example1 will claim the right to do constantly and habitually4 ,thus the thoughtless conduct of ,church members is made to increase the perils which environ the unsaved1 and to hedge up the only way of life4 ,to incur1 or even risk1 consequences like these for the sake of a momentary excitement1 is certainly to do the devil's work for low wages4 #e4 ,if you indulge in diversions which are thus under condemnation1 it can not fail to lessen your religious enjoyment and mar your usefulness4 ,you may seem to yourself to be confident that your course is right1 but the consciousness that others1 whose judgment you must respect1 believe it to be wrong1 brings a cloud over you4 ,the fact that you are doing what they condemn will haunt you in church1 at the prayer-meeting1 and every-where4 ,the fact that you do this1 not under any plea of necessity1 but for mere pastime and momentary pleasure1 will not mend matters4 ,however kind and considerate the older members of the ,church may be in their allusions to your course1 you feel that you have not their confidence fully4 ,this will trouble you1 perhaps irritate you4 ,you fancy that you are looked upon coldly4 ,you detect little instances of neglect4 ,you imagine that certain expressions in sermons of your pastor or the prayers of your brethren were meant for you4 ,things get worse the longer you brood over them4 ,you are tempted first to stay away from the sacrament1 and then to neglect the other means of grace4 ,some well-meaning but clumsy brother pounces upon you at a most untimely moment1 administers a scathing rebuke1 and goes on his way happy1 blessing the ,lord that there is one ,christian left who has the courage to do his duty4 ,now you are really angry4 ,you are ready to imagine that all the rest of the ,church would talk the same way if they should speak their minds4 ,thus1 little by little1 you veer from your ,christian course1 the mists gather around you1 the stars disappear1 you fall into adverse currents1 and1 it may be1 finally strike upon the rocks1 and make shipwreck of faith and a good conscience4 ,will you say that the evils depicted flow not from your conduct1 but from the censoriousness of the ,church8 ,if all were silent1 the result would not be materially different4 ,the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church is immovable in her position in regard to these things4 ,if you violate her ,discipline1 you can not shut out the thought that you are an unfaithful1 disloyal member of her communion4 ,this alone will suffice to bring a chill and a blight upon you4 ,the world1 too1 see that you are not in accord with your brethren--not at home in the place which you occupy--and this encourages them to ply their arts to lead you still further4 ,if you resist1 they remind you of your own past conduct1 and inquire1 perhaps with a sneer1 whence comes this sudden tenderness of conscience4 ,if others rebuke them1 they refer to you1 with another sneer1 as their exemplars4 ,surely1 the poor pleasure which springs from questionable diversions is bought at too high a price when it costs us our consistency1 the warm fellowship of ,christian people1 peace of conscience1 and the power to do good4 #f4 ,in morals compromises are not only treason to truth and righteousness1 but compromised positions are of all the hardest to defend in argument and maintain in practice4 ,you have acquaintances1 intelligent and agreeable1 but gay and inconsiderate1 who are unwearied in their efforts to draw you into their circle4 ,their importunities are urgent1 and it taxes all your powers of resistance to withstand them4 ,you grow weary of the conflict between duty and inclination1 and wish for rest4 ,the thought occurs to you that if you go a little way with your tempters they will be satisfied1 and no great harm will be done4 ,you reason amiss4 ,to compromise with wrong is never the end of conflict4 ,you must conquer a peace4 ,if you do not mean to make a complete surrender to the world1 the flesh1 and the devil1 there must be a point where the line is drawn1 and the stand taken4 ,where will you place the line8 ,will you try to draw it half way between right and wrong8 ,if you do you will abandon a strong position for a weak one4 ,if you yield in regard to dancing in private parties1 you will be invited1 in due time1 to attend a ball4 ,if you go to see some moral drama performed at the museum1 you will be urged to attend the theater4 ,and the assault made on your halfway position will be just as strong1 the conflict just as painful1 and to refuse just as hard as you now find it4 ,the place of undoubted right is at once the safest to occupy and the easiest to maintain1 and it is bad generalship to try to intrench at any other point4 ,and to parley with the enemy is the next thing to a surrender4 ,fight it out1 then1 on this line4 ,life is brief1 and close beyond it lie heaven and hell4 ,if you take one single step in the direction of danger and ruin in search of fleeting pleasures1 will you think1 ten thousand ages hence1 that in this you were wise8 ,the foolish diversions in which you are now importuned to join war with health1 waste time1 squander money1 mar ,christian reputation1 dissipate serious thought1 hinder usefulness1 attack every temporal and every eternal interest4 ,can you persuade yourself that it is right for you1 for the sake of an hour's feverish excitement1 to tarnish your religious example1 grieve your fellow-believers1 lay a burden upon your pastor's heart1 wantonly throw away your power to do good1 and give new courage to the wicked8 ,will you still try to apologize for questionable pleasures8 ,the entire board of ,bishops1 the ,general ,conference1 your pastors1 without an exception1 all the deeply pious men and women of the ,church1 believe that dancing1 card-playing1 going to the theater and the races are unwise1 inexpedient1 hurtful to the spiritual interests of those who engage in them1 and damaging to the moral power of the ,church of ,god4 ,nor do they stand alone in this solemn judgment4 ,the most intelligent and devoted ,christians in the various ,churches around us share these convictions4 ,will you set yourself in array against whole ,conferences1 ,councils1 and ,general ,assemblies8 ,and if you deem yourself equal in judgment to all combined1 let me ask you another question3 ,is your conclusion as safe as theirs8 ,they think it dangerous to dance1 play cards1 and attend the theater4 ,are you equally confident that it is dangerous not to dance1 not to play cards1 not to attend the theater8 ,is abstinence as perilous as indulgence8 ,they fear that ,god will not hold you guiltless if you venture into these frivolities4 ,are you as fully persuaded that ,god will condemn you if you do not venture into them8 ,the danger is all on one side4 ,beware how you venture where there is cause for hesitation4 ,remember1 he that doubteth1 and yet goes on when he might safely stop1 is damned4 ,illustration3 decorative ,illustration3 decorative ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,,appeal ,,to ,,the ,,church4 ,and they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane1 and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean4 ,ezekiel xliv1 #bc4 ,on moral and religious questions compromise is treason to the right4 ,lafayette's witty and just illustration is well applied4 ,he supposes two men to get into an altercation in regard to a fact in arithmetic4 ,twice two is four1 says the one1 stoutly4 ,no1 replies the other1 twice two is six4 ,both are immovable1 and the dispute waxes warm4 ,a third person approaches1 and lays a hand gently upon each4 ,gentlemen1 reason is not infallible4 ,the wisest men are sometimes in error4 ,we are all prone to rush to extremes4 ,you1 my friend1 affirm that twice two is four4 ,you1 who are equally my friend1 affirm that twice two is six4 ,compromise1 gentlemen1 compromise4 ,meet each other half way4 ,agree to say1 hereafter1 that twice two is five4 ,men are not lacking who1 even in considering points of morals and religion1 are ready to confess that really1 after all1 so far at least as their present information extends1 twice two is somewhere about five4 ,nay1 in their haste to meet what they style the demands of the age1 some are ready to compromise at five and ninety-nine hundredths4 ,and thus1 all the way from what ,st4 ,john calls the camp of the saints and the beloved city down to the place where ,gog and ,magog are gathering their hosts for battle1 men are pitching their flimsy tents and raising their equivocal banners4 ,it is a lamentable fact that among the chief obstacles to the progress of the ,gospel we are compelled to count bodies that claim to belong to the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and yet have neither the heart to preach his doctrines nor the courage to proclaim his law4 ,in all ages there have been sects of nominal ,christians1 who form a part of the ,church of ,christ in the same sense that the outside scales of a shell-bark hickory are a part of the tree1 and who are ever ready to compromise with the world and tolerate all fashionable follies4 ,worldly men would manage the affairs of a ,church in the same manner that they would conduct a political campaign4 ,the argument is1 that in order to be popular1 and grow rapidly in numbers and in wealth1 the ,church must lay as few restrictions as possible upon candidates for admission1 and as seldom as possible come into collision with the pleasures and the passions of the multitude4 ,mr4 ,bright1 in a recent speech in the ,british ,parliament on the disestablishment of the ,irish ,church1 gives1 in a sentence or two1 a correct description of this policy which we have here mentioned3 ,the ,right ,honorable gentleman1 the member from ,bucks1 argued very much in favor of the ,established ,church on the ground that there ought to be some place into which people can get who would not readily be admitted any where else4 ,the fact is1 what the ,right ,honorable gentleman wants is this3 that we shall have an established ,church which has no discipline1 and that any one who will live up to what may be called a gentlemanly conformity to it may pass through the world as a very satisfactory sort of ,christian4 ,but the wisdom of this world is foolishness with ,god4 ,this mercenary policy fails by the very measures to which it resorts4 ,when the wicked see no distinction between the ,church and the world they cease to respect the ,church4 ,even the hypocrite finds his occupation gone when a profession of religion means nothing1 just as the counterfeiter stops work when the bank fails and its notes are no longer current4 ,thus the cunning of men overleaps itself4 ,on the other hand1 the ,church that boldly joins issue with sin wins moral power with every blow1 and secures the respect even of the enemy4 ,thus they who feebly seek to save their lives lose them1 while those who are ready to lose life for ,christ's sake and the ,gospel's find it4 ,the principle stated is of infinite importance1 and we must neither forget it nor distrust it for an hour4 ,all who fear ,god will confess that we are not to withhold the truth nor compromise with sin1 even if the multitude desert our altars to crowd where the cross is lighter or its offense has wholly ceased4 ,but is it true that worldly craft and policy will fail even as a policy8 ,let another question answer this4 ,other things being equal among rival denominations1 have not the purest in doctrine and the strictest in morals always been the most successful8 ,churches grow weak by lowering the standard of morals4 ,when there is no discoverable difference between the ,church and the world1 the ,church is no longer loved1 or venerated1 or believed4 ,it becomes powerless to pull down the strongholds of sin2 it can no more stir the heart1 nor rouse the conscience1 nor reach the mysterious depths of our nature2 it ceases to meet the religious wants of those whose hearts ,god has touched1 and men turn away unsatisfied from its shallow waters4 ,the scorner will be loud in his denunciations of religionists whose vows are but the breath of the moment1 and whose professions mean nothing4 ,even the soul convinced of guilt and danger will be afraid to trust to the guidance of a ,church which has in it so little of the divine1 so little of the power of ,god4 ,methodism took at the beginning1 and has held to this day1 what some might regard as extreme positions on the subject of slavery1 worldly amusements1 and the drinking customs of the times4 ,what is the verdict of history8 ,have we damaged ourselves by our fidelity to the right8 ,some timid1 half-convicted people have doubtless been repelled from our communion by the strictness of ,methodist discipline and the boldness with which we have assaulted the wrong1 but who believes that the ,church would have grown more rapidly by compromise and cowardice8 ,who believes that it would be wise1 even according to the wisdom of this world1 to compromise with evil now8 ,zion is not lengthening her cords and strengthening her stakes in a ,scriptural manner when she stretches the curtains of her tent to shelter dancing1 card-playing1 and wine-bibbing converts4 ,if these should come in crowds1 offering on these conditions to join us1 we could not receive them4 ,to do so would be to act as madly as would the general who1 in an enemy's country1 commands his soldiers to throw away their arms1 call in the sentinels1 and level the intrenchments1 in order to gain a few timid recruits who would not wear the uniform an hour if they thought that it meant war4 ,nor is our argument disproved by the history of modern ecclesiastical organizations which have been less rigid than our own ,church4 ,in an intelligent community1 where the ,bible is read1 their laxity is always against them4 ,and in those very denominations the really pious1 whose influence and example are the very salt of the body1 to preserve it from putrefaction1 and without whom it would hardly be recognized as a religious body at all1 do not join in these questionable practices themselves1 nor do they advocate them in others4 ,the way in which the world reasons about a facile ,church is well illustrated by a conversation which actually took place not long ago between a sort of a minister and a shrewd1 irreligious rich man1 whom he wished to get in his little fold4 ,mr4 ,b----1 said the clergyman1 almost all your family have joined the ,church1 and ,i think it is about time for you to do the same4 ,o1 ,i am not fit to join the ,church4 ,i am not at all pious1 you know1 was the reply4 ,but1 said the minister1 you are aware that we are not very strict4 ,our ,church does not require as much as some others4 ,but ,i am not right1 said ,mr4 ,b----4 ,i sometimes get angry and swear1 and that will not do for a member of the ,church4 ,o1 well1 answered the minister1 you do not mean any harm by it1 do you8 ,that need not hinder4 ,but1 parson1 that is not all4 ,i am in business4 ,i trade horses1 for instance1 and make the best bargain ,i can2 and some people say that ,i tell lies in making my bargains4 ,o1 well1 said the parson1 it is right for us to take care of our interests4 ,that need not hinder you4 ,now1 look here1 parson1 said our friend1 somewhat excited1 what good will it do me to join your ,church if ,i need not be any thing but what ,i am8 ,i am not a ,christian now1 ,i know2 but if ,i ever join the ,church1 ,i mean to be one4 ,even the world1 unsaved1 dim in vision1 and hard in heart1 has learned enough of the truth to despise those who are ready to sacrifice religion for the sake of numbers1 and the pecuniary and social strength which numbers bring4 ,if the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church should abandon her traditions1 and retreat from her present high position in morals1 her apostasy would be attended by a fearful loss of religious power4 ,if such an exhortation were allowable1 ,i would call on all upon whom devolves the oversight of the ,church to stand firm for the strict morals of ,methodism4 ,there is always a difficulty in maintaining ,scriptural discipline4 ,to enforce it is often painful to the pastor4 ,it sometimes disturbs the membership and the community1 interrupting friendly intercourse and exciting evil passions2 nevertheless1 we can not give up ,church order4 ,the pressure can be escaped only by a complete abandonment of discipline4 ,concessions and compromises merely transfer the battle to another point1 where we must again fight1 our forces demoralized by defeat and the enemy emboldened by victory4 ,if there is any place which we can hold against the enemy1 any line where we can muster our forces and repel invasion1 it is on the frontier4 ,the king who fails to meet his foes the moment they set foot within his territory is already conquered4 ,drawing the line1 and taking her stand in favor of total abstinence from all that intoxicates1 the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church has kept herself pure from the sin and shame of intemperance1 and yet not one in ten thousand of her members is ever arraigned for violation of the stringent rule4 ,could the ,church tolerate what is called moderate drinking without being compelled to deal with multitudes whom moderate drinking had led into the depths of drunkenness8 ,for the same reason it is easier to keep our young people from objectionable diversions than to discipline them for the grosser inconsistencies into which indulgence would speedily lead them4 ,will it be said that if we are so rigid our young people will leave us and join other communions8 ,be it so1 if it must4 ,they who are in haste to sell their membership in the ,church for so poor and small a mess of pottage can do us little good if they remain4 ,they go out from us because they are not of us4 ,a thousand dancing1 wine-bibbing1 card-playing1 theater-going ,church members will not furnish one worthy candidate for the ,christian ministry1 not one devoted class-leader1 not one pious man or woman ready for the spiritual work of the ,church of ,god4 ,if they leave us in order to seek a more congenial home1 we can better afford to lose than to keep them4 ,the rubbing out of minus quantities increases the sum total4 ,and if any other ,church1 so called1 imagine that they can make their swarm the stronger by hiving our drones1 they are certainly welcome to try the experiment4 ,if there be a noble emulation that may justly prompt us to labor more abundantly than others1 and excel them if we may1 in ,gospel successes1 we need not fear the rivalry of any fashionable1 worldly1 easy-going denomination4 ,such as these will never take our crown4 ,pure doctrine1 a faithful ministry1 unwavering adherence to the ,divine law of morals1 a devoted1 holy1 earnest laity1 alone will win the prize4 ,but let us not flatter ourselves with the idea of a vantage-ground which no one else has the wisdom to see nor the grace to occupy4 ,no low degree of morality will suffice to place us at the head of the sacramental host1 or even give us a position among the leaders4 ,others as well as ourselves see the beauty of holiness1 and are striving to put on the robe white and clean which is the righteousness of saints4 ,almost every branch of the ,church of ,christ has taken the alarm1 and1 by its leading ministers or resolutions passed in ecclesiastical councils1 has spoken emphatic words of warning4 ,it would be easy to fill scores of pages with these utterances1 coming from ,churches differing widely in doctrine and in usage4 ,a few extracts1 with the sources whence they emanate1 will show us the sentiments and convictions of the general ,church in our whole land4 ,the ,general ,assembly of the ,presbyterian ,church thus spoke half a century ago3 ,on the fashionable though1 as we believe1 dangerous amusements of theatrical exhibitions and dancing1 we deem it necessary to make a few observations4 ,the theater we have always considered as a school of immorality4444 ,with respect to dancing1 we think it necessary to observe that however plausible it may appear to some1 it is perhaps not the less dangerous on account of that plausibility4444 ,let it once be introduced and it is difficult to give it limits4 ,it steals away precious time1 dissipates religious impressions1 and hardens the heart4 ,the ,general ,assembly of #ahfe reaffirmed the action of the session of #ahah1 condemned card-playing--to which attention had been called by a memorial--and affectionately exhorted all the members of the ,church to avoid all recreations and amusements which are calculated to impair spirituality1 lessen ,christian influence1 or bring discredit upon them in their profession as members of a ,christian ,church4 ,bishop ,m',ilvaine1 of the ,protestant ,episcopal ,church1 thus declares his judgment on the same subject3 ,let me now turn to two objects1 in which there is no difficulty of discrimination--the theater and the dance4 ,the only line ,i would draw in regard to these is that of entire exclusion4 ,and yet1 my brethren1 ,i am well aware how easy it is for the imagination to array both of these in such an abstract and elementary simplicity1 so divested of all that gives them their universal character and relish1 that no harm could be detected in either4 ,and the same precisely can be easily done with the card-table and horse-race4 ,bishop ,mead1 also of the ,protestant ,episcopal ,church1 thus condemns dancing3 ,as an amusement1 seeing that it is a perversion of an ancient religious exercise1 and has ever been discouraged by the sober-minded and pious of all nations1 on account of its evil tendencies and accompaniments1 we ought conscientiously to inquire whether its great liability to abuse1 and its many acknowledged abuses1 should not make us frown upon it in all its forms4 ,i will briefly allude to some of the objections to it4 ,when taught to the young at an early age1 it is attended with an expense of time and money which might be far better employed4 ,it promotes the love of dress and pleasure1 to which the young are already too prone2 it tempts to vanity and love of display2 it induces a strong desire to enter on the amusements of the world at an early period1 in order to exhibit the accomplishments thus acquired1 and to enjoy a pleasure for which a taste has been formed2 it leads the young ones exactly into an opposite direction to that pointed out in the ,word of ,god4 ,in their ,episcopal ,address of #ahfg1 the ,bishops of the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church ,south thus speak3 ,this is no time to abate our testimony against worldliness in all its forms4 ,our ,church has never faltered in its teaching or modified its tone in relation to dancing1 theaters1 the manufacture and sale of ardent spirits1 drunkenness1 revelings1 and such like1 as demoralizing and fatal to godliness4 ,now that we are threatened with these evils coming in like a flood1 we renew our warning4 ,in #ahff the ,young ,men's ,christian ,association held a ,general ,convention in ,albany1 ,new ,york4 ,delegates were present from all parts of the ,united ,states and the ,british ,provinces4 ,the question of amusements was carefully considered1 and the conclusion reached was set forth in a formal resolution1 thus3 ,that we bear our energetic testimony against dancing1 card and billiard-playing1 as so distinctively worldly in their associations1 and unspiritual in their influences1 as to be utterly inconsistent with our profession as the disciples of ,christ4 ,and last of all1 but not least in the wisdom of the sentiments uttered1 nor in the faithfulness of its warnings1 we cite the ,pastoral ,letter of the ,provincial ,council of ,baltimore1 the voice of the ,bishops of the ,roman ,catholic ,church4 ,it is dated ,may1 #ahfi3 ,the dangerous amusements1 prominent among the evils we have to deplore1 and which is an evidence of the growing licentiousness of the times1 may be reckoned a morbid taste for indecent publications1 and the frequency of immoral or positively obscene theatrical performances4 ,no entertainments seem sufficient to satisfy the fast degenerating spirit of the age unless they be highly sensational1 and calculated to gratify the most prurient appetites4 ,we can hardly say who deserve a stronger condemnation1 the actors who pander to the most vitiated tastes1 or the audiences who encourage1 by their presence1 and applaud these grossly indelicate exhibitions4 ,both actors and spectators appear to vie with each in their rapid march down the slippery path of sin4 ,we deem it particularly our solemn duty to renew our warning against the modern fashionable dances1 commonly called ',german1' or round dances1 which are becoming more and more the occasions of sin4 ,these practices are so much the more dangerous as most persons seem to look upon them as harmless1 and indulge in them without any apparent remorse of conscience4 ,but ,divine revelation1 the wisdom of antiquity1 the light of reason and of experience1 all concur in proclaiming that this kind of entertainments can not be indulged in by any virtuous persons1 unless they be more than human1 without detriment to their souls1 or even be present to take part in such amusements1 where the eye is dazzled by an array of fascinating objects1 where the senses are captivated by enchanting music1 and the heart is swayed to and fro amid the surrounding gayety and excitement4 ,with these facts1 arguments1 appeals1 and testimonies we leave the subject to the solemn consideration of the reader1 believing that the position which we have taken is rational1 ,scriptural1 and safe1 by manifestation of the truth commending itself to every man's conscience in the sight of ,god4 ,,finally1 ,,brethren1 ,,whatsoever ,,things ,,are ,,true1 ,,whatsoever ,,things ,,are ,,honest1 ,,whatsoever ,,things ,,are ,,just1 ,,whatsoever ,,things ,,are ,,pure1 ,,whatsoever ,,things ,,are ,,lovely1 ,,whatsoever ,,things ,,are ,,of ,,good ,,report2 ,,if ,,there ,,be ,,any ,,virtue ,,and ,,if ,,there ,,be ,,any ,,praise1 ,,think ,,on ,,these ,,things4 ,illustration3 decorative 99 99 99 99 99 ,transcriber's ,notes3 ,maintained original spelling1 hyphenation and punctuation4 ,obvious printer errors have been corrected4