Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1860-08-23

eiSn iddy the queen, 10 grudge a holiday
70 rusty youth DESTROYS of perfecting himself
In the ritle-exercise, by which our enemies. if
we have any, are to be grievously discounted
ana overcome. l have heard it said that it is
liable to abuse, and that rifle.practice NAV be
a cover Tor worse practices, or a pretext for
much improbable idling. And so is church.
going, for the matter of that--and other excel
lent things, easily to be named-susceptibIe of
this kind of abuse. But the primary ref1ec
ton which this suggests to my mind is. that
no one ought to need an excuse for taking
holiday. If society were rightly constituted
holidays in the abstract would be so resnecta
Bile and SO respected that they could derive.
no additional gloss or dignity from any adyen
utlous circumstance of rifle movement, or row.
al birthday, or that famous national institution
the great Derby race.
1t may be imputed to me. know nv tho
enemies of holiday -making-whereof there are
am afraid, thousands within short distance
OF this Corn of Hill-that am boasting only
OF giving holidays to servants not my own
i mat l am lavish of other peoples property.
10 TINS am not minded to reply further than
know what is best for her Maiesty's service
and for my own; and that in my own modest
establishment, the domestics are never denied
holiday when they ask for one, and often
prompted to take one when they do not ask.
IL Is a small matter for me to take my chop in
westminster on that day, or to carry some
sandwiches to office in my pocket, that may
torego tile parade of dinner, and emancipate
Mary, Jane, and Martha, for day at the
Crystal Palace at Sydenham-an institution
which, as an aid, not to say an incentive to
holiday -lnaking, hold in the highest esteem.
Are they never to breath the fresh air. or to
see the green leaves because pay them a
yearly wages of from twelve TO twenty pounds,
and have some covenants with them on the
score of tea and sugar? Are holidays only for
the heads of families-masters or mstresses,
as the case may be-and the dumb animals
who serve them There are those know
who think them sheer impertnences, and es
TEEN it dire presumption in menials to ask fol-
holidays, even to see their parents and their
little brothers and sisters, few miles off. Is
the love Of kindred to be denied to them no
less than the love of nature e? Can any one
really hope to get good service out of reason
able beings by sitting their natural instincts
and sllenclng the voice of their hearts God
be praised that there are some who think diff
ferently about obligations of this kind There
is my friend Loneyouchter, for example, the
kindest of human beings, and one of the clev-
crest withal, who beats all his contemporaries
OF whom | was one, in his younger days, with
such facility, that it was only to be likened to
the case of ECLIPSE first, and the rest no.
"HSlS le tolu tHe Quiet udy Ill Ills
pleasant villa, on the summit of one of the
Norwood hills, that he had given his servants
season tickets" for the Crystal Palace
Whereupon, | honoured the man, even more
than l had done before. But mentioning the
circumstance soon afterwards to fair young
girl, she described it as a"mad freak" 1t APP
peared to me to be the sanest thing that had
recently been brought to my notice.
The sanest i'll all respects-sanity itself, and
the cause of sanity in others. For surely the
mems Sa,la in corpore Sano is promoted by harm
less entertainment of this kind and health
and cheerfulness are the very foundation.
stones of good service. Ii we think of nothing
else, but of getting the largest possible amount
of yearly work out Of human machine, we
must take care not 10 keep it in motion from
morning to night for three hundred and sixty.
five days in the year. Ii has often surprised
me that men, who in their dealings with the
brute creation have so clear an understand
ing of this matter, should in their transactions
with what horse-doctDrs somewhat disparag-
ingly call ''the human subject" exhibits so
great deficiency of common sense.- Happen
ing, few weeks ago, to be travelling on the
top of an omnibus bound for railway station
in South Wales, | became the highly interest.
ed auditor of an animated conversation be-
tween the driver of that public conveyance
and two or three decently. dressed men on the
seat behind him, who might have been small
farmers or bailiffs. The subject of discourse
was primarily the sale and purchase of GER
tain tasttrotting mare, very celebrated upon
the road. The price given and the sums Of
tered at different times for the accomplished
animal having been well discussed, and having
ELECTED an amount of private information
con the best possible authority such as would
have done no discredit to the discussion of an
important historical question, the properties
and the qualifications of the mare were brought
under review. Hereupon some diversities of
opinion arose-but there was wonderful agree
ment upon one point, namely, that the mare
had been overworked and that she must be
turned out for time to set her right on her
legs again. Whether blistering would accom-
plish perfect cure, or whether anything short
of firing would do it, appeared to be an open
question but it was unanimously agreed that
the holiday was the main thing-and from par"
ticulars, the company ON the coach top betook
themselves to generals, and dscoursed feeling
ly on the cruelty and folly of overlooking
good horse, of keeping him always in harness,
instead OF turning him out sometimes to grass.
To all of which l silently assented, for l re-
membered that | had once been Fpeccant in
this kinde" myself having ridden in my
younger and more thoughtless days, a willing
horse to remote railway station and back
again, distance in all of some two and twen-
ty miles, SO often without taking account oil the
strain upon the poor animals system, that one
day she suddenly, when many miles from any
help, broke out into profuse sweat, dropped
her head, and never recovered She fairly
broke down in the midst of her work-and
never think of the fact now without shame
and humiliation.
Conclusion tomorrow.