Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-01-12
Rational and Harmless Amusements.

EHttt&aStlDHtu 1ec0fU.
1t may well be questioned whether it
wise for Christians to set their faces
against popular amusements as essen
TALLY irreligious, and to decry all indu.-
gence in them as inconsistent with Chris
tian character. While the church is not
of the world, it is in it; and secular vo
cations, interests and cares must engross
q large share of the thoughts and activi.
ties of its members To discharge the
duties of life effectively there is needed
an alienation not only of rest but of re-
creation. Enjoyment is an obligation as
well as work Our God is a God of
gladness and His service, instead of a
doleful slavery, is perfect freedom.
Religion cannot accommodate its stand
ards to the passions and infirmities of
man, nor is 1t desirable that the strict
rule of ideal Tectitude should be regard.
ed as otherwise than everywhere and al
ways binding. Conscience, the sacer-
dotal element of human nature, attests
continually the paramount verify and
the eternal, imperial primary of right;
so that each man bears within himself
an memorable witness of moral truth.
But there is no gain in the multiplied.
ton of sins by branding as such acts
that are intrinsically innocent. Life is
indeed solemn thing, but he who looks
only upon its sombre side and sees not
its affluence of payety and brightness
fails to interpret 1t Alright. The ascetic
cheats himself out of much that he would
be the better for enjoying, and his mo-
rose abstinence from guiltless pleasures
is not only wrong to himself but to his
neighbOrs. whom he comes to look down
upon from an eminence of spiritual
pride, and toward whom he neglects to
exercise that charity which is the sweet
est Of the Christian graces
1t is surely hard enough for men to
conform their conduct to the manifest and
undoubted requirements of duty in the
various relationships they bear to each
other without being subjected to any
needless exactions. The legitimate oc-
casions for hardship and self,denial are
sufficiently abundant to call for no addi-
tional privations The Master tells US
that His yoke is easy and His burden
light. His gospel is one Of benefaction
as well as sacrifice, and the religion He
established upon the earth, while the
prophet of immortal hopes, has reference
also to the present sphere of our exis-
tence, and promises happiness here no
less than hereafter. To reject the bless
ings of this life and to refrain
from using the privileges that are
vouchsafed to us in this beautiful and
gladstone world. is one of the worst
phases of practical infidelitY. 1t is I'M
grateful and disloyal to God and wick.
ed fraud upon ourselves. To denounce
what is harmless as a sin implies a con-
founding of ethical distinctions which is
altogether as perilous as the casuistry
that AYERS the proprietY under certain
circumstances Of committing immoral
acts. In either case there is breaking
down of the partition between right
and wrong. 1t is dangerous as it is
impious to add anything to
the Uecalogue. An undue extension
of the list of things prohibited impairs
the moral sense and diminishes the aver.
sion to wrong doing that belongs to q
healthy mind. The young man who
goes forth into the world instructed that
it is Just as really a sin to dance, to go
to the theatre, or to visit the park on
Sunday, as it is to steal or commit muir
der, is very poorly equipped against
temptation. IF he believes what he has
been taught, he is likely to be danger
GUS member of society. Ten to one, he
will break down under the load given
him to carly, and, instead of being pre-
ternaturally good, get to be very bad
man indeed.
Amusements of some kind are a neces-
sity of human nature. All history de-
clares this to be true. As pious and
discreet clergyman of the Anglican
Church SAID recently, the demand of the
Roman people for bread and the circen-
sian games was not merely pagan but q
human cry. Every parent finds proof of
this in the instinct of his little ones for
play. Men are but children of larger
growth, and they can no more do without
pastimes and diversions than they can get
along with food, 1t would be well for
Chliasian men and women to thought
fully consider this whole matter. They
should ask themselves whether, instead of
putting the drama and other institutions
which minister TO the need of amuse.
ment under the ban of their disapproval,
il would not be better to use their infu-
ence to elevate and purify them. So far
as they have relaxed the old puritanical
rigor on this point, and sought to make
things pleasant for the young people by
getting up fairs and sociables, they have
done we'll. But there is room for an adj
vance in that direction. An eminent
evangelist sets his revival melodies to
popular airs. on the ground that the
devil ought not to have all the best tunes.
1t would be sagacious step to carry out
this idea still further 1t surely is not
wise to abandon the wide field of popu-
lar amusement almost wholly to the gen
tleman in black.