ment

not,

subservient to the cause of virtue. It is therefore, the use of the innocent amusements of life, which is dangerous, but the abuse of them; it is not when they are occasionally, but when they are constantly pursued; when the love of amusement degenerates into a passion, and when, from being an occasional indulgence, it becomes an habitual desire.

-ALISON.

Recreations are sometimes necessary both to the body and mind of a man, neither of them being able to endure a constant toil without somewhat of refreshment between; and therefore there is a very lawful use of them; but to make it so, it will be necessary to observe these cautions: First, we must take care that the kind of them be lawful, that they be such as have nothing of sin in them; we must not, to recreate ourselves, do anything which is dishonourable to God, or injurious to our neighbour; as they do, who make profane, filthy, or backbiting discourse their recreation. Secondly, we must take care that we use it with moderation; and to do so, we must first be sure not to spend too much time upon it, but remember that end of recreation is to fit us for business, not to be itself a business to us. Thirdly we must not be too vehement aud earnest in it, nor set our hearts too much upon it; for that will both ensnare us to the using too much of it, and it will divert and take off our minds from our more necessary employments, like school-boys, who after a play-time know not how to set themselves to their books again. Lastly we must not set up to ourselves any other end of recreation but that lawful one, of giving us moderate refreshment.

"THE WHOLE DUTY OF MAN."

In amusements as in everything else, we must distinguish between the use and the abuse.

-R. CHAMBERS.

There is a certain limit to be observed

even in

our amusements, that we do not abandon ourselves too much to a life of pleasure, and carried away by such a life sink into immorality. Sport and merriment are at times allowable; but we must enjoy them as we do sleep and other kinds of repose when we have performed our weighty and important affairs.

-CICERO.

Let not your recreations be lavish spenders of your time but choose such which are : healthful, short, transient, recreative, and apt to refresh you; but at no hand dwell upon them, or make them your great employment.

-JEREMY TAYLOR.

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." Maxim. But all play and no work makes him something greatly worse.

-SMILES.

If all the year were playing holidays,
To sport would be as tedious as to work.

-SHAKESPEARE.

Too much rest is rust,

There's ever cheer in changing.

Amusement, however innocent, must not be our daily work, it is only for the sake of relaxation that the Creator grants us anything of this nature. To have too

keen a relish for such things, is to run the risk of missing the great end of our being, by seeking an enjoyment which at last may become a source of repentance and remorse. I particularly advise you to be very attentive to the choice of your social amusements. Do not therefore waste your time in diversions, which you cannot enjoy without injuring your virtue, your reputation, or the well-being of your family. Let not those foolish pleasures, which may hurt your neighbour, excite his complaints, bring tears from his eyes, or separate you from the duties which society and religion impose upon you, ever find an entrance to your heart.

-STURM'S REFLECTIONS.

Recreation does not mean idleness.

Absence of occupation is not rest,

A mind quite vacant is a mind distressed.

-COWPER.

We should never do nothing. It is better to wear out than rust out. The proper rest for man is change of occupation.

Change of work is itself a relaxation. Everything palls if long indulged in, and pleasure most of all.

-SMILES.

The fundamental principle of all recreation consisting in the rest from local exhaustion which is secured by a change of organic activity, it is clear that practical advice with regard to recreation must differ widely according to the class and even the individual, to which it is given. Thus it would be clearly absurd to recom

mend a literary man, already jaded with mental work, to adopt as his means of recreation some sedentary form of amusement; while it would be no less absurd to recommend a working man already fatigued with bodily toil, to regale himself with athletics. And, in lower degrees, the kind and amount of recreation, which it would be wise to recommend must differ with different individuals in the same class of society according to their age, sex, temperament, pursuits and previous habits of life. *

Sweet recreation barr'd, what doth ensue,
But moody and dull melancholy,
Kinsman to grim, and comfortless despair;
And at her heels, a huge infectious troop
Of pale distemperatures, and foes to life?

SHAKESPEARE.

129. RETIREMENT.

I envy not the proud their wealth,
Their equipage and state;

Give me but innocence and health,
I ask not to be great.

I in this sweet retirement find
A joy unknown to kings;
For scepters to a virtuous mind,
Seem vain and empty things.

Great Cincinnatus at his plough,
With brighter lustre shone,
Than guilty Caesar ever could shew,
Though seated on a throne.

Tumultuous days and restless nights,
Ambition ever knows;

A stranger to the calm delights
Of study and repose.

Then free from envy, care, and strife,
Keep me, ye powers divine;

And pleas'd when ye demand my life,

May I that life resign.*

-MRS. PILKINGTON.

Man should never be solitary, though alone.

Retirement is a prison to the fool, but a paradise

to the wise.

* From Aikin's Collections of Songs by R. H. Evans.