The Evansville journal., 1870-11-23
From the Chicago Post. /
pPauaR Anfuaamant

pondent, we would add that it seems to
US that any amusement may be prop
erly INDUCED In by any one who OBJ
serves these five rules:
1. 1t must be innocent in itself.
2. Tt must be healthful.
3. 1t must be taken in moderation.
4. Ii must be taken in seasonable
5. 1t must be taken in a proper
place.
It must be innocent-that is, it
must not be, in its nature, harmful to
any Of Gods creatures. Some Of
| those amusements that are often for
bidden, such as dancing, chess, back
CANNON, and billiards and cards at
home, seem entirely innocent, because
no moral was ever injured by a mod
crate indulgence in either. The
bloody fights between men and brutes
in the Roman arena, were not inno-
cent. where, as In the case Of the Fla
Wan amphitheatre, 5000 beasts were
slain IN a single carousal. The Span
ish bull-hghts are not innocent; nor
the dog fights. rat fights, and man
fights Of America-the latter being
Objectionable, not so much for the
sake of the two rufhans who might be
worth more dead than living, but be-
cause the ring tends to brutality and
lessening OF the public regard for
human life. And the boys know that
it is not an innocent amusement for
them to kill birds, or rob birds nests,
or torture any Of the feeblest of
created things.
We have confidently mentioned the
dance as an innocent source of amuse-
ment.
1t is now becoming generally admit
ted that the intimate social intercourse
ot the sexes, in schools or otherwise
"a ;pgling in close proximity
tsnds TO purity of thought and up
rigbtness of life In both. IL tones
down the prurient fancies; corrects
false ideas: creates mutual respect,
or at least mutual understanding;
and substitutes the plain real for the
unwholesome ideal. Familiarity gives
Dower to resist the temptation which
curiosity created. 1t is the forbidden
fruit that finds its way first to the
hands Of Eve. Vice has its most will
ing victims, not among those who
have seen all the phases of society,
but in the family of the rigid Cove
nanter, where repression and exclu-
sion have done their work; not In
common schools where the sexes
mingle, but in the boarding schools,
where young men are outlaws, and
where the imprisoned maidens frame
them in eKtravagant pictures, and
glorify them In the light of their i'm
aginatIon. So we can not doubt that
this contact Of hands and the mingliDg
of voices and graoes in the dance is
positively good in itself.
OF the round dances there is more
doubt, though they seem not to be in
delicate necessarily; their propriety
mainly depends on the occasion and
| the company. No English Princess
allows any but brothers arm to en-
circle her waist In the waltz, because
she may possibly inherit the throne
and crown Of the realm; so it might be
we'll for every American girl to remem-
Der that shes too. is dauphin BY
| divine right-heir TO the crown of
home and the throne Of heart.
Lit cannot be we'll to play cards or
| billiards in a drinking saloon, aud
unless they can be played elsewhere
it is better to f0rego those amusements
altogether. But they need not be
| stunned because reckless men some
| times gamble with them. In Spain,
men gamble with horses; in China,
! they gamble with sticks in the Pacific
Islands they gamble with white beans.
| Gambling Is net an amusement; it is
| the very reverse of amusement; it is
the widest insanity ia the world, the
saddest, most wretohed, and generally
the most Improbable drudgery that
was ever engaged in by man.
An amusement may be unhealthful
| in its nature, or it may be unhealthfui
because it is not adapted to the spe-
/ cial needs of the person who INDUCES
ia It. It may be good for one, and
/ bad for another; recreation to one,
and to another a wearing of the flesh.
| The amusement of the evening should
be, as far as possible, direct contrast
| to the occupation of the day. If O
mans employment be sedentary, 1t
| would seem best for him. to avoid all
games at the center-table-a run
around chimney or stroll in the even
| ing air will surely be more refreshing
| to him. Whist and cribbage will
tend to restore the equilibrium of the
man who has been on his feet all day; :;
/ W0AA0 tno cugluG-tlIAH6Is VI bAO 4dA AAOE
who has been riding Manny's reaper
through the harvest will not be likely
to take q permanent interest to the
velooipede. Conversation is perhaps
the highest form of social enjoyment; /;
yet professional men and women
ministers, editors, lawyers, doctors
school teachers-ought not indulge in
it SO much as they are inclined their
minds need rest, aud at least half
their evenings ought to be given to
some amusement that does not tax
memory or thought very much-some
amusement that is merely fun, with
the medicine of laughter in it. The
brain needs rest. Haste makes waste.
The hot-house system is not eoonomi-
cal. We clamor for culture, culture,
culture, and our half grown children
exhale from their miserable, starved
bodies and so to Heaven before their
time, aud Hs sigh and say-"Ahl
what esniHses they woRld have been 70
z@a@Sasz@asssasss
RedI0ek.