The star of the north. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1849-1866, 1860-09-12
Work and Recreation.

ahoWs Itsell SO lew mondays ana recreatlOnS
as we do. Our English progenitors are not
thought TO be very far advanced in what the
French call the saUoir uirUe or the art of
living happily; but eyen the English, hard
as they are known TO work, allow them
selves more play :han.we do, they acquire
and keep bluff, hearty physique, by much
open air exercise, 10 which we, as nation,
are strangers. Our national habit is spare
and lank our faces are ssllow, or pale !;
our chests are too narrow, and our stomachs
are too prone TO dyspepsia.
Habits imprint themselves upon the ma
lures of men after a few generations almost
ineffaceably. Modes of life are sure 10 ai-
feet the constitution of the livers Too
much nonotony in occupation repeats it's
elf in the character, and too constant labor
extracts the spring and elastic energy which
make labor most effective. The man who
plays little now and then, works a great
deal better for it afterwards.
Work is noble and elevating, and all idle.
ness is detestable. But recreation is not
idIeness it is rather higher kind of
work. 1t is exhilerating TO the spirits,
and serves as oil TO the machinery, making
everything move more smoothly and swiftly
diminishing friction, and lessenirg the wear
and tear Of the vital powers.
The best recreations are doubtless the
social ones. II is iault, both in English
and American life, that there is SO little
uontaiit,, 1H ,,l
intercourse. We learned from our progen-
itors TO be stiff and unbending; rarely 10
speak, unless spoken 10, and TO consider too
much familiarity on the part of any body
an objectionable sin. Some writer has
whimsically declared that if an Englishman
were 10 see a mans house on fire, he would
not venture TO tell him of it, unless he had
previously been introduced. This criticism
indicates facl, though 1t overstates it. See
how much pleasanter is the French bonhOm-
nlie and the German heartiness and sim
| plicity The chief end of life with those
nations, is 10 make life cheerful and happy.
Many of the Anglo-Saxon race seem to live
as if the chief end were TO make things as
| 6iOOhJ anu do pUcolOlc
| In crowd of Germans or French, exclu.
siveness is laid aside, and good manners
consist, not in the preservation of punctilio,
but in the natural play of feelings Polite
ness is not system of rules, but the free
acting-out of generous impulses. Among
cultivated people, reins and padlocks are
not necessary. They can be trusted, who
live from law of their own nature, and
conventonalites are chiefly of use TO school
the boorish and savage, SO as 10 make them
| presentable.
The worst thing fashion does for us, is 10
keep Us apart If we could come together,
we could not fail 10 learn more good man
ners than we get out Of all this exclusive.
ness.
Social pleasures are not necessarily ex.
pensive ones. Hospitality need cost nc
more than we make it. A little pleasure
when shared, goes a great way. If we come
together to enjoy ourselves and each other
and not the eating and drinking, we shall
speedily find that hilarity does not demand
long purse. No people enjoy social pleas
ures more than the Germans-yet none
spend so little upon them. If our hearts are
well provided, we need not busy ourselves
to pamper our bodies, and if our minds are
well furnished, we shall not need TO aston
ish our neighbors with the gold and mahog.
any of our parlors.
Recreation is an art 10 be cultivated. with
mosio us. 1t comes naturally TO some
races. Our American absorption in bust
Eess, and all-devouring pursuit of the main
chance, keeps us in great, strangers 10 its
value. 1t we would sci ourselves 10 learn
ing how, we should soon find that recreation
takes less time and less money, than we
had imagined.
A French traveller has remarked, that ir
the United States, there is less misery, ana
less happiness, than in any other part OF the
world. We suspect there is some truth il
the paradox. Brother Jonathan thinks it q
very serious thing 10 be merry. To be al
ways grinding in his ideal of practical life
though he does not permit himself to enter
tain visions of good time coming, wher
he shall recreate and rest. But as this goot
tine is postponed TO the further side of wha
is called ga forune," it commonly recede'
before him as he advances in his career
like mirage in the desert-tantalizing, bu
una,tained. 1t is not possible that it woult
be wiser to take his comfort as he goe
| along, lest he should somehow fail 10 get
at the end of the iouruey1
LARGE MosaUrroEs.-ln speaking of mos
quitoes of large size, seen by one of tn,
party in Southern lake, Lemon, (who wa
a sea faring man many years,) remarked:
"Well, there, Surinam is The darndes