New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-06-29
srMnER YICATIONS.

SUMNER V1C1WONS.
Everybody ought to get ont OF town III the
SIMMER. not simply because it is pleasanter out
of town-as a matter of fact 1t Is not always
nIeosanter-but because it is Indispensable To
the maintenance of thorough mental ana phys
zeal health TO return, ut intervals, I'd -''t'Ic'
The deeper uses of the summer vacation are loS'
TO the vacuous frDb'es who transfer their uroah
frivolities to the seaside or the mountains al"
whose constant care is to artihclalHc Whatever
scene they are placed In. Fashion ana Nature
are incompatible. Put the Medicean Venus De
side Worth-costumed belle, and the latter De
comes ignoble and tawdry. Yet even for the
Door fribble Nature has refreshment ana ne
iiobt if only ne can assimilate them, and despite
his city.corrupted men tai habits she sometimes
steals into his brain Il mystic and am YET re-
viyifying sense of her ineffible charms. ocean
and forest, hillside and bank OF stream WINS
pering trees and emerald turf, glistenlng water
fall and fragrant flowers, the harmonleS oil SUD
light and foliage, clouds and mountain peahs-
all and each have their special sanitary lihu-
ence upon weary minds and exhausted bodleS'
The sincerity and reality CT Nature are
among her most wholesome aud lnylgorauhg
effects. To the man of the world long sleeper
in affairs fuI of craft and subtlety, ever on the
watch for Misrepresentation, fortified against
pcrpetual knaveries, hardened to retallate WIN
the same weapons, distrustful, cynical, In douD'
as to the exi. .cncc of any complete good tlliN
simple. fresh unpretending, undSgulSed race
of Nature presents itself with powerful erect.
Here at least there is truth, and frankness' anu
absence of frivolity, and no Interior motives
Does Nature not regard Humanity! Yet ever
for Man her waters roll and her mountains
swell. her forests sigh, her breezes blow and her
flowers bloom And in the summer vacation IL
is on her calm. passionless breast alone that the
wording can repose restfully, that he can ut
terly put off his carking cares, and give himself
up to the tranquil influences of scene and sea-
son. II is because of these subtle, sweet and
pmifying influences that all who toll should DC
given an opportunity to renew their acqualnt-
ance with Nature during the summer Inc
middIe-aged find it sometimes hard to resume
the old relations. Their tired eyes are so
habituated to brick and mortar that the view oI
suburban scenery at first seems unnatural 10
them. But they soon recover the inherent rove
for the ALI Mother and as for the children,
they fly bv pure instinct to the broad bosom
ontspread before them. SO it is that the Fresh
Air Fund excursions produce good far beyond
their seeming capabilities. They awaken Il
dormant faculty in poor little starved ana
stunted minds. They confer upon many street
bred children the power to realize higher Meals
of life and the world than their urban existence
could ever afford them. They pour sunshine
and the memory of flashing streams and waving
grass into these little atrOphied lmaglnatiOnS,
and 10. all their after lives will be the purer and
the sweeter for the experience.
And Nature is great temperance retormer.
Whose would dwell in harmony with her must
rcnounce intoxicants, and quatf only her limpd
Hfe.giying streams. Nor will he yearn for less
innocent draughts wheI, he has learned the re-
freshng quality of those sparkling springs and
has drank of themin the open air, amid the trees
and the sunshine and the hum of insects and
the song of birds. As the completely of civil
cation increases the contrast between Nature
and the life of cities becomes greater; the two
lines seem to be tending further apart, like the
course of the lovers III the poem who walked on
either side of an overwhelming brook. But
civilization will need Nature more the further 1t
is removed from natural ways, and it will be
the more Indispensable to return to her at in
tcrvals for rest and tranquility and InvigOra-
ton, and the soothing, comforting sense Of har-
mony, beauty and order everywhere present in
the universe, save where men cOngregate most
thickly.
The summer vacation need not be elaborate or
costly. IL may be repeated often; taken in
daily instalments. 1t is within the reach OF all
but the poorest, and it should never be neglected
for therein lies the possibility Of renewed
strength for the rest OF the year; andnot merely
strength of body, but that mental bracing
which'mcans higher purpose, keener self-criti-
cisn, mellower tone, broader charity, and fuller
assimilation with the best tendencies of the
time.