The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-04-27
RESTING THE MIND.
Curious Modes of Relaxation Adopted by
Weary Workers.

Boston Transcript
Rather the newest idea in relaxation is that
practiced by worthy city official of the Listen
ers acquaintance. who. as relief from the con-
sideraton of volumes of figures, to which his at
tention must. through the day, be closely ap-
piled, has taken TO the study of the Hebrew
language and literature. That seems TO be a
queer sort of relaxation from work which is dis
tinctively brain work. but the gentleman finds
rest and relief in it, and that tells the story.
There is no sort OF doubt that In the matter of
relaxation one mans meat is emphatic
ally another mans poison. Many brain
workers find rest in whist, and some others
find the game, although perfectly enjoyable,
quite exhausting, because it engages the facul-
ties so intently. A friend of the Listeners has
had TO leave off whist-playing. because he plays
it in his dreams after he goes TO bed, and finds
no rest IN sleep while another, member of q
learned profession. when asked to attend. with
his wife, whist party lately. replied, s1Oh, yes
we viii come, and my wife will play; but If you
have any wood in your cellar that you want
sawed I'll go down and saw it. should find it
rather easier work. To him the idea of play
ing whist for relaxation would be quite as abb
surd as studying Hebrew. And still more alb
surd. perhaps. than the relief which a nervousy
exhausted literary man once found for his in
telectual labors in learning to play the fageolet
Speaking of relaxation, the Listener recalls
case where an excellent old lady caused Ter
family no little concern by taking to reading the
cheapest sort of detective stories. She bought
the boy Detective" and other like yellow
covered hve-cens volumes by the handful and
brought the stuff home, literally to devour it in
her chamber. 1t was not case of insanity be-
cause the old lady was in all visible respects
perfectly sane, but simply an idiosyncrasy
Lord Beaconsfeld paralleled it in his own case.
Returning from the Congress of Berlin, where
he had been laboring intensely for days, in con-
hict with the greatest Of European diplomates.
to bring about s.peace with honor" he stopped
long enough in Paris to buy a great quantity
of the trashiest and most sensational
French novels These he took to England,
and while he remained in retirement
resting from his labors. he devoted himself as
siduously to the French novels. A still more
interesting of this sort, because local
one, was that Of Bowditch, the learned astron-
omer, navigator and mathematician. In his
later years he employed young man to read to
him. And what the works which this
reader was called upon to read to this vene rable
man OF sciencef Books relating to Bowditch's
neutrality-suspicious. scientific tomes2 Not at
all. They were love stories or the most romantic
sort And when the reader had come to a pas
sage of genuine sentiment and tenderness the
old scientist would stop him. There, Mr.. -"
he would say, read me that passage againi"
He was impelled, no doubt, By a perfectly nat
ural and healthy craving for relaxation, such
as that which made the great Napoleon SO fond
of reading 1.-THE Sorrows Of Werther.n