The Indianapolis journal., 1883-08-18
MAJ INDIANAPOLIS JOURNAL
THE InLING OF SUMMER.

40 play makes Jack dull boy" hut one in
which we ALL tacitIv at least believe beyond
question The more dignified members of
he human family generally elderly persons
~ ther SEX are prone to deny that they
IL any interest in play, or worldly pleas
Mi,same, they are given to an occasional re-
beation, and the man or woman has to be
" old or very feeble indeed who does not
sri younger in anticipation of some kind
holiday pleasingly different from the end
seN..chain' of ordinary days Seek to de-
themselves as they may, it is source
e. easure TO occasionally relax the
tered Il under which men compel
ming a,lves to live, Numberless devices are
egraphd to in order to perpetrate palpable
likasion, but it is all the same, and he and
the who voluntarily turn aside from the
thel-beaten highway of trade and traffic to
ana or rest for awhile under the trees, are
OoaS' seeking to renew the edge on life and
~;t.s to it new impulse,
IicrfW
preony that sometimes in hot weather,
theeps over even religion, the dignifed pill
forsof the church blandly suggest that reli-
o,ous picnic under the trees would
no evil, and as a result we have
specias' 'eamp-meeting. There need be
fault found with the camp-meeting
b institution. 1t may be the source of
{, evil and not few moral peccadilloes,
ON these are extraneous to the object and
nm me pose of camp-meetings. The younger
notshipers may not worship very much, and
cedeed may devote quite goodly share of
precious moments in eyeing each other
ance, exchanging hand pressures or even
permitting the lips to meet in the cleaning
or amid the shadows that flicker and fiirt in
the outskirts of the congregation. 1t is alto
gether probable that such things have hap
pened from the earliest days, and that these
pleasing traditions will be handed
down from generation to generation,
are no sufficient reason for discontinuing
camp-meetings. If these stolen sweets were
not gathered there. it is morally certain they
would be garnered somewhere else; SO it
stands to reason that it is altogether prefera-
BILE that the love-matches of our young folks
be made under blessed than under evil sur
roundings. Few orthodox would have the
temerity to say that it would not be better
for their sons and daughters to do their WOO
ing at camp-meeting than at circus. But,
be. that as it may the camp-meeting
does not meet all its obligations
when the hymns are all sung,
the sermons preached and the exhortations
made. The young devotees will easily make
the irregular services very enjoyable to
brothers will drink in new life apd enjoy
ment from the pure country air that rolls
transparent ocean between the greensward
sad the stars. The slight sprnkling of re-
ligion that is thrown over the camp-meeting
only ADDS to its flavor, and the religious pic
mic under the trees is an established institu-
tioa
Next to the camp-meeting is the county
fair. He who imagines that its object is to
encourage the cultivation of phenomenal ruta-
bagas or mammoth squashes; to stimulate
wholesome rivalry between the makers of
impossible quilts and quantity wrought gar
ments, has very Inadequate idea of the
grand scheme that urderlies it all. The young
farmer who hauls in fat pig expects to meet
aNpeighbors plump daughter at the fair.
Through all the futter of ribbons, the clouds
of dust and all the pleasing uproar of the oc-
casion he expects to stroll with her, and by
wisely-adiusted system of investments make
her life for once halcyon day-dream that
she will never forget Her work is found
remong the sweetmeats and the thousand
Il d one feminine devices known to
-, initiated as tidies, mats and
lemat-not of every conceivable ma
,it rial, shape and color But She too, sees
'".her and better things there than quilts and
1rtains, and jams and jelles, and months
Joter the gates are closed and the grounds
serted, recolections o: the time and its in
Ients will hover about her head like halo
'"u. ." SSipg cattle, sleek and round and
= the plunging horse race, the fakir
<, sells gewgaws of such bewilderng
i4auty until they are taken home are all
we'll enough in their way, but did fair de-
pend upon these attractions it would I'M
doubtedly be a dismal failure Old and
young alike look for side attractions, and
ARE never disappointed.
AS with camp-meetings and county fairs,
v, with ancaponn,a,,., o, - .,,,., Il, -