St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-02-22
HARMLESS AMUSEMENT.

20 be taken in, and we shall be compelled
to shorten sail. Now and then we shall
ship a heavy sea, and before we get through
this lecture course some Of you who have
bad habits are certain to be sick. True
religion is opposed to everything that is
sinful and degrading, and the one supreme
law it lays down as covering this
entire class of amusements is this:
ii indulgence in any particular sport or di-
version tends to drag you down, you have
no right to indulge therein. You are viO-
lating your conscience and injuTing your
soul. In the realm of morals, if your right
hand OffendS you, you must cut it Off.
What is temptation to one man is not to
another, and it is each mans duty to study
himself and act in accordance with the gen
eral law | have mentioned. The church
cannot legiSlate for all and lay down any
iron rule in this matter, for eacn mans
conscience is the supreme court of appeal,
and TO God alone must each one render an
account for the deeds done in the body.
! have my opinion. however, and
to this you are welcome. Card play
ing. billiards, dancing and theater-gOing
have in point of fact been the agencies in
many cases of leading people astray, al
though at the same time it must be con-
fesSed that many have INDUCED in these
diversions and yet have not forsaken the
path of virtue. The reason why these
amusements have been called questionable
is in view Of the facts that card-playing has
in numberlesS instances led on TO gambling
billiards to drinking, and dancing and the
theater to debauchery. Many of those who
have fallen point back 10 these amusements
as the occasion of their fall. Now, if, as a
public instructor occupying this sacred
desk. | am asked by a sea Of earnest, youth
full faces what is the proper course to
pursue, not knowing your individual
temperaments, surroundings and liabilities
to err, l say most emphatically that the old
Puritan way of abstinence in which l was
brought up is the only way that is abSO-
lutcly safe. 1t may be narr0w-gauge road
perhaps, but it is a safe road nevertheless,
and L am not afraid to recommend it.
cannot say that in behalf Of the broad-gauge
road of indulgence in these amuSements.
for on the latter there is a possibility of
your jumping the track, rolling down the
embankment and ending a total wreck.
No young man or young woman in the city
of Minneapolis will be able to look at me in
the day Of Judgment and say: "You, sir
gave me bad advice, and following it, l
went to ruin"
Looking at society as 1t is to-day, find
tnat the DfOau-gauge rOau IS very popular
however, and that multitudeS of our young
people are travelling upon it. They don't
care to consult ministers. or any one else
for that matter. Under these circumstances
it would be folly to open quarrel with them,
for it would do no good. Rather than do
that, l will take a red flag in my hand and
wave it at such points as l think are dan
gerous. L do not regard card-playing, in
itself considered n sin. auV more than
playing checkers. or chess or backgammon,
and any one who says it is, must be well
on the way towards softening of the brain.
The sin lies in the associations into which
these spotted and pictured cardboards
have fallen. Rid these cards of their evil
associations and the subtle power they pos
sess to lead the weak from that which is in
nOcent to that which is perncious, and they
are perfectly harmless as innocent as the
game OF authors. AS a matter of fact.
however they hold prominent positions in