The Union and eastern journal. [volume] (Biddeford [Me.]) 1854-1858, 1857-05-08
BIDDEFoRD MAINE, FRIDAY, MAY g. 1857 a ess
Tho Want VI Of sunshins.. .

H. 81 Or Tho Want Of Sunshine sni
s.You city horses don't get enough sum
shine," said shrewd farmer. sand no won.
der, therefore, they arc 20 often unhealthy.
In the coldest days Of winter, when Il va,
clear, my old father used 10 take his horsos
out Of the stable, and tie them to the fence
in the middle Of the day % that they might
get sunshine" .r1sa roli
There was even moro wisdom In the far
mer's speech than he supposed. II l. not
horses only that suffer for the want Of sum
shine. Thousands of psrsous living in cities
injure their health because Of the want oi
sunshine. The ovsr.worksd operative, who
Is confined oil day in dark, ill-ventilated
room, owes not littlo Of his fondnes for .
dram to the absence Of the light, joyous, ex.
hilarating sunshine. The pale, sickly child,
that by and by is laid in it, colin, amid the
sobs ofib heart broken mother, might prob
ably havo grown up to q vigorous manhood
ifit had been bred on breezy, clover-deck.
ed sunshiny hillside. Who can oomputO
the adults who die annually Of consumption
solely because thcy have deprived themselves
of sunshine year after year7 In the physi-
cal life of Americans, especially those who
dwell in cities, there d no deficiency 20
marked and fatal as that Of the want Of
sunshine. The human animal requires sun.
shine quite as much as plant. eavH1
But wo need shunshine in q moral sense
also. We arc too grave and serious people.
We rack our nervous systems to pieces and
prcmaturely destroy our digestion BY the
neglect Of seasonablo recreation, or BY
amusements that are such only in namo.-
As old Froissart said Of the English four
hundred years ago, eve take our pleasures
sadly as is our fashion," Man isa laugh
ing animnl--the ;nly laughing animal there
is Nature intended that due proportion
of mrth and mcrriment should bs.his. Gall
work and no play, - as the old proverb goes,
"makes Jack dull boy" Tho English
peoplo wero never more heroic than in that
almost Arcadia time, when their country
went by tho name of "merrio England"
and when, after the transition period dur.
ing which Froissart wrote, and in which
civil war made the nation naturally sad
even in their Measures, thew were prosper.
ous. happy and festive. It IL impossible to
believe that what tradition says of the last
afty wears of the sixteenth century in Eng.
land is all poetic exarccration. Tho love of
music alone-a love which then existed
among all classes. bu. which, alas, has long
aro died outs proof to the contrary. Il
WINS an aro when thcro was sunshine. meta.
pborically spcakinr, all over tho realm Of
ENGLAND and tho natpr,I rcspls followed
crea. deeds and generally difru,cd happiness.
II /, said. however. that VIC have too
solemn a mission before us, as people, to
bo otherwise than grave. But 1t Is mis-.
tako to suppose serious aspect jndispensa.
bic to success rs fatal as to confound q
long face and sour aspect with religion
Tie healthiest man, oil things else being
alike, is not only tho checrfulest, but the
best. BY ovcrworking our brains and deny.
ing oursclvc, amusement, wo become irrita.
bio and pcevish, and therefore unjust. Our
homes are too often but gloomy dens, where
we retire after the days labor is done, to
snarl at wives who are fretful. because also