Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1891-03-27

80 "b HONNV men nOD 0TlHf
una ptoy before uS."-II Samuel, H., IA.
There are two armies encamped by the
pooi OF NIbeon. The time hangs heavily on
s,,'a uahus, one army proposes game OF
sword fencing. Nothing could hs mora
healthtul and innocent. The other army nc.
eePIs the challenge. Twelve men against
we've men, the sport opens. But something
went adversely. PERHAPS one OF the swords
men got an unlucky clip, or in some way had
MS ire aroused, and that which opened in
sporttulness ended in violence, each one talk
ing his contestant 10y the hair, and then with
une sword thrusting him in the side, so that
.uat Wnlch opened in innocent fun ended In
the massacre of oil the twenty-four sports.
men; was there ever better illustration
OF what was true then, and is true now, that
mat whl>h is innocent may be made de-
etructive?
Mhat OF worldly nature Is more I'm
portant ana strengthening and innocent than
amusement, and yet what has counted moro
,xlc.inist nave no sympathy with a straight
Jacket religion. This is Il very bright world
to me- and propose to do ali can TO make
1t bright for others
never could keep step TO a dead march
"A oook years ago issued saws that Chris
tlan man has right to some amusemcntS
FOR INSTANCE, il he comes home at night
weary from his work, and fesling in neei Of
recreation, puts on his slippers aud goes into
us gaIret and walks lively rounl the floor
several times there can be no harm in il. |
oeleve the church of God has mailo a tre-
mendous mistake in trying to suppress the
sporttuneSs OF youth and drive out from
men their love Of amusement lfGod ever
implanted any thing in us ho implanted this
desire.
But instead Of providing for this demand
oil our nature. the church Of God has, for the
main part ignored it. As in riot, the
mayor plants battery at the end Of the
street. and has 1t fired OFF so that everything
II cut down that happens to stand in tho
range the good rs well as the bad, 50 there
are men in the church who plant their bat
teries OF condemnation and fro away indls.
criminatey. Everything is condemned.
But my Bible commends those who use the
world without abusing it, and in tho natural
world God has done everything 10 please and
amuse us. In poetic figures we sometimes
speak OF natural objects az being in ,ain,
but it IS mere fancy. Poets say the clouds
weep but they never yet shell tear; ana
tho winds sight but they never did have
any troublei and that the storm hows, but
II never lost its temper. The world i3 o
rose, and the universe garland
l am glad to know that in oil our c ties
there are plenty Of places where we may find
elevated, moral entertainment. But all
honest men and good women viii agree with
me in tho statement that one of the worst
plaques OF these cities is corrupt Amusement.
Multitudes have gone down under the blast
Ing influence never to rise. II we may jud -
OF what IS going on in many OF the places OF
amusement by the Sodonic pictures on
board fences and in many Of the show
| windows there is not much lower depth OF
profigacy to reach. At Naples Italy, they
keep such pictures lo1kei up from indis-
IDf.i,
eShumed from Pompan AMI are not III for
public gaze. II the effrontery of bad places
OF amusement in handing out improper ad-
J vertisements of what they are doing night
by night grows worse IN the same prOpor-
tion, IN fifty ye2rs New York and Brooklyn
will beat not only Pompcii, but So1om.
To help stay the plague now raging pro
| ject certain principles by which you may
judge in regard to any amusement or re-
creation, finding out for yourself whether it
10 right or whether it is wrong.
| ! remark in the first place that you can
Judge Of the moral character of any aruse-
ment by its healthful result or by its haleful
reaction. There are people who seem made
| up of hard facts. They are combination Of
multiplication tables and statistics. II you
show them an exquisite picture they will be-
gin to discuss the pigments involved in the
coloring. II You show them beautiful rose
tuty VIII ~ W a oJNalli' III $50
which is only the post-mortem examination
| Of flower. They have no rebound in their
nature. They never do anything more than
smile. There are no great tides Of feeling
surgiug up from the depths of their soul III
bilow after billow OF reverberatiug laugh
ter. They seem as il nature had built them
by contract and made bungling job of IT,
But, blessed be God, there are people in the
world who have bright faces, and whose life
| l.. ff,aVV, fNsKaaY M
| Even their troubles are like the vines that
| crawl up the side OF great tower, on the top
/ Of which tue sunlight sits, and the soft air
of summer hold perpetual carnival. They
are the people you like to have come to your
house; they are the people like to have
come to my house. II you but touch the
hem OF their garments you are healed.
| Now it is these exhilnrant and sylupathe-
tic and warm hearted people that are most
| tempted to perniciouS amusements. In pro-
portion as a ship is swift 1t wants strong
helmsman; in proportion as horse is gay,
| It wants stout driver; and these people of
| exuberant nature will do well to look at the
reaction Of all their amusements. III an
amusement sends you home at night nervous
so that you cannot Sleep and you rise up in
the morning, not because you are slept out,
but because your duty drags you from your
slumbers, you have been where you ought
| not TO nave DePH. 1uele ulo hliuoSlhVhto
that send mau next day to his work blood
shot, yawning, stupid, nauseated; aud they
are wrong kinds of amusement. They aro
entertainments that give man disgust with
| the drudgery of life, with tools because they
are not swords, with working aprons because
they are not robes, with cattle because they
are not infuriated bulls Of the arena.
II any amusement sends you home longing
for a life OF romance and thrilling adventure,
| love that takes poison and shoots Itself,
| moonlight adventures and hair breadth es-
oapes, you may depend upon it that you are
the sacrificed victim Of unsanctiied pleasure.
! Our recrcations are intended to build up,
| and il they pull us down as to our moral or
as TO our physical strength you may come 10
the conclusion that they are obnoxious.
There is nothing more depraying than AT.
| tendance upon amusements that are Iuli OF
innuendo and low suggestion. The young
man enters. At first he sits far BACK, WIN
his hat on and his coat collar up, fearful that
somebody there may know him. Several
| nights pass on. He takes off his hat earlier
and nuts his coat collar down. The blush
that first came into his cheek when anything
| indecent was enacted comes no more 10 hlS
cheek. Farewell, young mani You nave
nrobably started on the long read which
ends in consummate destruction. Inc
stars of hope will go out one by one
until you will be left in utter dafkness' Iieal
Won not the rush Of the maelstrom, in whose
outer circle your boat now dances, making
merry with the whirling waters' But yoI
are being drawn in, and the gentle motor
win become terrific agitation. You cry toi
hein In vain! You pull at the oar to -pu
hscI but the struggle will not avail 1ot
vii be tossed and dashed and shipwrecket
and swallowed In the whirlpool that has al
ready crushed in its wrath ten thousant
| hulks - T.. . s,,,,,
country residence to city residence will d.
we'll to be on guard and let no one induG
vou to places OF improper am usement. l
ls nightly aluTing when sbon Iew y0SnS eSmer @ Al
around. rr-.,,,
which lead YOU into expenditure beyond you
1 L.. InN