, 1876-02-26
work and PLAY,

lean public from the pulpit to the
press, but which cannot be preached
too often. Il is that old yet ever
practical ard timely sermon which
enioins upon all those who expect to
fiji ont the Scriptural measure Of years
the necessity of rest, recreation, aud
variety.
There is an Adage that reads Va
riiety is the spice of life Il is in fact
all of that. and much more. 1t may
be well said 10 be the vital nourish>
ment which the jaded, worn and ex-
hausted body and mind actually need
for their continued existence.
Says Whittier, ino ne of his poems
Beyond the dn-ty village bounds
loiter in my daily rounds"
And most of us, | think, sooner or
later, fall into this slow jog -trOt of
daily existence, constantly running It's
race with burdens which are never
lifled-ro, not for much as half day
fighting the battle Of life with ar
NOR always on, and falling at last,
with no rest or relief until there comes
the sleep that knows no waking.
The daily life of the average Ameri-
can is an amazing exhibit of dull,
monotonous plodding, We rise in the
morning; we breakfast; we go TO the
shoJ, the store, or the office We work
intently till dinner time; we dine
hastily and without ease and enjoy
ment We work through the afternoon
sup, read the papers, and 90 10 bed
and in the morning commence the
same round of weary work. And our
holidays, our enJOyments-what are
they Perhaps picnic once a year,
and a concert or the theater half a
dozen times. But the fac, IS that
these recreations are SO rarely indulg-
ed in that we fall into the habit of
regarding them one and all as forbid
den fruit, and we are robbed of one
half their enjoyment by the torment
ing suggestions of habit that we are
wasting our precious time, and ought
to be at the desk or counter. We
take our few diversions stealthily, as
though the act were disreputable we
are half ashamed when caught IN the
act of enjoying ourselves, and hasten to
make some miserable excuse about
wanting To let the children see the
show, or tell some lie about coming
there to see a man on business, or
what not.
All of which is decidedly wrong.
No man has a right to make ma
| chine Of himself, or to shorten his
days by incessant plodding. Our
minds and our bodies need the occa-
Sional fabrication of change and va
nety, if they are denied it, i'll results
are certain 10 follow. Who can con-
lecture how many intellects have fall
en- into hopeless dementia IN the past
year through continual labor at the
same tasks, continual sight # the
same faces and places, and continual
brooding over the same subject? Ii
you thinksit likely that the number is
small, ask your doctor. ; he will have
a different and sad story to tell you.
1t Is no exaggeratiOn to say tha; we
Americans who cast ourselves into the
whirl Of business, politics, or art, are
killed or crazed, i'll large proportion
Of cases, by the uniformity of the
daily life that is imposed upon us.
We make of life stern, sIayish, sol
emn business. We come to look at
everything through the spectacl es OF
utility, and to condemn everything
that does not promise us a money re-
turn. We make a tradmill OF life,
and leave it at last before We have
made ready to enjoy it.
We need new and pleasant expert
enceS, oft repeated, TO enliven the
dusty, barren track of this life Journey.
We need to see new faces, TO look up
on new scenes, to lay hold of the in-
nOcent pleasures that always lie Just
beyond the the dusty bounds Of
uniformity. So shall our hearts be
refreshed, our bodies recreated, and
our spirits renewed for the incessant
conflicts of this work-day world
Boston True Flag.