Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1871-11-03
Evenings a. Home.

Evenings 40 EHome.
The winter evening is in the fruest
and closest sense of the Evening at
Home. What one most misses in it
perhaps, is little sensible organization.
Nobody seems to realize how very hard
il is for number Of people to amuse
themselves and one and another for
dozens OF nights in succession. There
are few traditions, like those of reading
or music, that bring order into the
chaos but the books are chosen han
hazard, and the music is left TO chance.
The family group, which began so mere
W over the fire breaks ND bv a series of
quiet secessions. Mamma resumes
her knittingncedles. Mary wanders
Oh to her music-stOol, the school-bov
filings himself on the sofa with a novel.
papa Is asleep in the chair, in the easv-
chair. Everybody yawns with cer-
tain weary relief when the prayer-bell
rings, and yet nobody could exactly saw
why the evening had been 50 wearisome.
The truth is that the bul5of people think
that entertainment comes of ITSELF and
that the least organization is the death
OF any real amusement. The evening is
lett to arrange itself and it arranges it.
self in the way we have described.
lhe hoy who lolis about play ground
soon finds how wearisOme merely cas-
ua amusement is, and hetal1es himself
| to the organized "game.' and the wo-
man who once set to organizing her
| evenings at home would soon find that
| the pray ayer-bell came too early rather
than too late. Variety is the first thing
neediul ior amusement, and little un-
| written programme which arranged con-
Versatlon, music, reading, and the rough
game IN their due sequence, would be
SIMPLY introducing into the family the
same principle which is proved by ex-
perlence to be essential to the success of
any public entertainment. Much again
may be done with each Of these ele
ments OF social enjoyment in them
selves. Music, for instance, as it is at
present employed in evenings Mt home.
IS one OF the most irritating and annov-
ing things in the world. 1t is n mere
chance which piece is played. or who
the composer is or what the stvle of
music may be. Conceive. instead of
this, such a series of evenings as Mr..
Chappell gives us at st. James Hall,
now Beethoven night, now Il Mendel-
sohn, now a Schubert night. Imagine
little thought given to the character of
the pieces played the devotion of
nVe minutes to the arrangement of
NAN-NLOlptlN dlNtIuiIJn Ol vocal Wltl
music or the placing the
more scientific pieces at the beginning of
the little home concert and lively elee
at the close. These are OF course mere
hints, but they are hints which turn
wholly on the one point, that amuse-
nlent and real evening at home can
only be got at the cost of little fore
thought and little trouble Or take
the case OF reading aloud Our grand
mothers used to gather round the fire
and listen patiently to pages of classic
author" Nowadays we take the last
Nudes book from the table, plunge
into the middle, and make the best of
It. There are advantages in either
course, 4 l,--.s tt;5 wDI'l comb
them b)tl "A essLy o. d, Oui
would be an agreeable relief after inc
Lecky; 1t would be amusing to contncv
he light persitlage Of Lothair with Mr..
lighter persllage Of The Rape Of the
Lock. 1 We knew a family where chalis-
lspeare was read in character, as it were.
ma each member OF the circlcle round
he nome table separate parsonage
II the play. Reading of this kind would
5lVe real basis for conversation.
There Is no reason in the world thar
rood conversation should be so rare as .
t IS in England, but, as every mistress
u a Sal0n IN France knows, good talk
ioes not come by accident. Men and
women will only learn really to con
rerse when conversation, in the true
ense OF the word, is familiar to them at
lone. But to converse-in other
words, to find fresh subject and treat
hem freshly to preserve a tone of
ightness and ease without falling into
rivolity; to know how to avoid mere
discussion and controversy, and yet to
ieal with topics OF real interest and
ralue; to perceive when theme is So
tally exhausted, and when the mo-
nent has come for DEPRESSION; how to
heck one member of the circle, or 10
lraw out the other; how to give their
proper place even to repartee-all this
5 no easy matter. 1t requires. as we
lrged in the former cases, f0rethought
md trouble and little organization.
But we can hardly conceive ANYTHING
which would contribute in higher de-
gree to the happiness OF an evening at
lome.-Ihe Saturday Reriew.