Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1873-06-26
sf hHE s.--VOL. &, NO. 4
Principals which are Tests of the
Character of Amusements.
BY WIN. HAuaE, D. D..

" uisailoWeu Dy the Christian law.
such are all those which involve
cruelty In their pursuit, as did the
hon fights of Rome, as do the bull
fights of Spain and South America,
the fights of game-birds III England
and in this country, as we'll as those
pugilistic combatslwhich have of late
presented such spectacles of sin and
shame in some portions of our land.
Prescribed, too, by this law, are
all forms Of gaming in which ones
success must be at another's ex-
pense, and which are ever tending
to awaken suspicion, jealousy, envy,
fixed malice, wrath, strife, despair.
We know that there is much in o
name, and certainly, the vocabulary
OF this world was never more accur-
ate than in designating as heHs those
places where the spirit of gambling
relgns. All tiendlike passions riot
there; and to see those passions in
full, and all the horrible issues to
which they lead, would shock the
soul of that young man who may be
now taking the first steps ia that
career which reaches unto such
fearful termination. Yes, you who
say, "lll play little, but within
proper bounds-will carefully con.
troll myself, and never hazard all up
on single throw" remember that
those men whose aspect il 50 revolt>
ing, and whose hearts are so desper.
ate, thus began, impelied by that
love Of excitement which now
tempts you to tQpch and handle
which grows by each Indulgence,
and, though at present a gentle
zephyr which you can guide, must
soon become furious blast to drive
you onward.
Now, he who considers from what
small beginnings gigantic vices
grow, and the power which is excr-
cised over the young mind by these
two simple eIemcnts-th desire OF
society and he iovo OF excitement,
need not wonder that men of OBJ
servation, who have seen much of
the world and its ways, should be-
lieve that the practice of card playing
even for triaing sums which is 10.
duIged by many youthful circle,
nourisbes q germ Of evil; nor that
such q clear-sigbted reasoner as tho
celebrated John Locke should con-
graduate himself that, though he had
kept house nearly forty years, had
been surrounded with a largo fami,
iy, and had enter tanned much com.
pany, yet he never had cards, dice.
or any implement Of gaming, under
his roof "The hours" says he chat
young men spend in this way are
neutrality-suspicious. hours which
ought to be spent in reading or writ
ing, or rest preparatory to the dawn"
How could man Of sense like him
look with any other emotion than
that of pity on company of human
beings doomed to pass an evening
together, yet lacking so much the
power OF entertaining conversation,
as to be obliged to spend their time
in gazing at bits of paper marked
with parti-colored spots, caring for
nothing but to skill time J" and yet,
perhaps, fostering fatal passion
which some day may breake out
like fire from under the shoulder
ing ashes, and consumed the bosom
that it warmed?
Those amusements, moreover,
which arouse passion for personal
display always involving, as it
does, those .of vanity and envy
amusements which absorb much
time and thought in preparation,
and tend to exhaust ones nature in
their process, which cherish a spirit
OF competition, no far intellectual ex-
ceIlence, but for superior elegance
in dress and movement, have been
generally seen to be adverse to this
Christian law. We speak OF those Of
which the words of the old poet,
Shirley, are descriptive:
Another game you have which consumes more
Your fame than purse; your revels in the night,
Your meetings called the ball to which repair.
AS to the conrt OF pleasure, N Your gallants
And ladies.
1t has been the fashion in some
quarters to regard dsappropation
Of the ball as an amusement to be
one OF the peculiarities Of Puritan-
ism. But this is far from true The
fact that hepuritans were adverse
to it may have its proper weight,
but it is not q sufficient argument
it. Touching the real merits of the
ball as recreation, let me cite the
words Of one who cannot be sus-
pocted Of anything very rigid in his
notions--of one who was neither q
friend to the puritans, nor to Chris
tianity itself. although" says Glib
bon in his great work on the De-
cline and Fall of the Roman Empire,
"the progress Of civilization has un-
doubtedly contributed to assuage the
fiercer passions of human nature, it
seems to have been less favorable TO
the virtue Of chastity, whose most
dangerous enemy is the softness of
the mind. The refnements Of life
corrupt while they polish the inter
course Of the sexes. The gross ap-
petite Of love becomes more danger
Gus when it is elevated, or rather,
indeed, disguised by sentimental pas
sion. The elegance of dress, of mo-
ton and of manners, gives lustre
to beauty, and infames the senses
through the Imagination. Luxuri-
GUS entertainments, midnight dane
es, and licentious plays, present at
once temptation and opportunity to
female frailty." These sentences,
from the pen of one who loved to
plunge in all the pleasures of Eu-
ropean capital, explain the philoso-
ply of this amusement, show the
reason why it is considered danger.
Gus, and Just where the danger
turks. If this be true, undoubtedly
the atmosphere of a ballroom must