Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1867-10-23
REST.

Multitudes of earth's toiling millions
have died while striving to get enough
money to retire from business, and IN
beautiful cottage on their own little
farm. to spend the remnant OF theiI
days in rest, in having nothing in par
ticular to do. Perhaps one ina million
Of the hopers does not make money
enough to enable him to retire to his
country seat, and to his nation, all goes
on charmingly. but when everything i
completed to his mind and he has
nothing more to take up his atteu-
ton, he eats and sleeps, and lounges
around for few months longer, fails
into disease and dies; or. if he has
universal force of character and power
of observation, he notices that both
health and happiness are passing away
from him, and tracing this to the true
cause of an inactive body and an un-
occupied mind, he resolves TO "sell OUT
and plunge again into the vortex Of
business.
Recently an old schoolmate-young-
er graduating in the same class thirty
seven years ago-writes that ''body
and mind are worn out. The slightest
physical labor exhausts him" and ''any
effort to think or study. or even read,
so wesries the brain that life is felt as
a burden" He withdrew from his pro
fessional duties, which he has perform.
ed in the place for twenty-five years
with honor to himself, having secured
the love and confidence and respect oi
all who knew him. He gave up his
calling for the purpose Of obtaining rest
as a means of health.
The number of families is increasing
every day, who give up housekeeping
as a means of rest from family cares,
and restore to that miserable and most
unwise mode Of life. boarding at a no
tel or in some private family, to gel
more dissatisfied than ever in q few
months, meanwhile falling into bad
health and bad habits of various kinds
All these classes Of persons fail. mis-
erably fail in their object because they
mistake the physiological meaning ol
the word "rest." Neither body nor
brain is safely, truly, and happily rest
ed by doing nothing. The only health
ful rest. as long IS it is, is to be busy
Men of force and industry will every,
where tell you: at is the hardest
work in the world to do nothing"
Memorial man was ever made to be
loafer, to be miserable drone. The
true idea of rest is recreation, q max
ing over again, a return to our accus-
toned vigor; and this is accomplished,
not by allowing the machine to come to
stsndstil, for inactivity is rust and
ruin to ali mechanical eontrivanees,
and death to all physiological struc,
lures. The true object of rest u re
cuperation, and that is best brought
about as TO the body, by exercising a
different set of muscles; and as to the
brain by calling into requisition diff
ferent set of organs or powers, causing
the mind to act upon new objects. 4
better plan is not to get into the IN
healthy conditions named, and they
are sYoidable by giving two hours daily
to the exercise of a different class OF
muscles or to theinEestigation and study
of objects of comparatively trivial i'm
portance and of a wholly different ma
ture. The student should rideo on horse
back. or cultivate fruit and flowers
the merchant should employ his mind
in liberal studies, in active, personal.
and eleVating charities, while the over
taxed and worried wife should pay s
visit daily to some prudent friend.
some CHEEKY neighbor, or suffering sis
ter or child the main object in all
cases being to spend two or three hours
daily in open air actiyeness wholly dit
ferent from ordinary business routine.
Boston Watchnldn-