The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1893-04-07
SrIrrt Misrrllunll.
THE RECREATIONS OF
EMINENT MEN.

Recreation is as necessary in the economy
of life as work. There is profound philoso-
ply IN the nursery lines about all work and
! no play. Health of body and vigor
of mind are essential to the full enjoyment Of
| lfs and recreation, amisem mt, diversion, is
4 Really important factor in the promotion of
this desirable. condition. 1t. stimulates the
| Imagination, and lifts us out of the ruts along
| which the routine OF our ordinary life forces
lis to travel. Volta:re, indeed, went so far as
| to say that amusement is the first necessity
Of C vilized man." On the other hand, great
living French critics.represents "amusement as
q comfortable deceit by which We avoid per
manent tete-a-tete with realities that are too
heavy for u.s." We agree with neither die
tum.
Why should we put amusement into compe
ttion with the realities of life? 1t is simply a
relaxation from those realities, and in that
respect is, as Voltaire says, necessity, though
not "the first necessity of civilized man." We
can't afford to part with any advantage. We
learn oy laughter as we'll as by tears, we grow
strong by rest as we'll as by work. The breeze
PLAYING round the temples is as necessary to
The vigor of the mind as dose of metaphysics
or chapter of Plato. Dean Swift's favorte
maxim was, s'Vive la baeatelle!" He thought
trifes necessary part of life, and perhaps
found them necessary to himself.
Mr.. Gadstone's recreaticns take the form
of writing pamphlets on theological controver-
sy, or telling trees and no professed wood
cutter is more expert in laying PROSTATE a
mighty oak than the right honorable gentle
man. Chemistry engrosses the leisure mo-
ments of his political opponent, Lord Salisba-
ry. Carteret, another English statesman,
when driven from Office, ''retired laughing"
says Macauley, "to his books and his botlle."
Fox found relief from political work in his
loved Greek authors, IS did the late Lord
Derby, the Rupert of debate TalIeyrand in
the intervals of ministerial work played whist
Peiresc, French antiquary, found his amuse
ment amongst his medals and intaglios the
Able de Marbles with his prints, of which he
collected about one hundred thousand, which
are now in the National Museum of Paris.
Rohanlt, a Cartesian philosopher of the
seventeenth century, wandered from shop to
shop to observe the mechanics labor. Gold
smith tells us OF famous painter whose de-
light, during his confinement in prison for
debt, consisted in drawing the faces of his
creditors in caricature. King Louis XIII. of
France spent much of his time in catching
small birds or making iets-Tean with quills.
1t is Said of George Herbert that ''the one
delight of his live in the way of recreation was
music, setting and singing his own hymns
and anthems to viol and lutte" Many learn
ed men have found recreation in the same
way. A bye-work of this kind always pro-
vides delightful rest or change Bishop
Warburten confessed that music was always
necessity to him when engaged in intellec-
tual labor. Addison says: ga man that has
taste for music, painting, or architecture, is
like one that has another sense when compar-
ed with such as have no relish of these arts"
Milton loved music, and used to play upon an
organ. Carlyle tells US that 'the main recre-
ations" of Frederick the Great "were music
and the converse of well-informed FREUD Y
men"--two things Of which, we may remark,
George Eliot was also passionately fond. Dr..
Johnson, it would seem, had no sympa Inv
with those who thus amused themselves. A
lady, after performing with brilliant execu-
ton sonata on the pianoforte in the presence
of the great doctor, turning to him, took the
liberty of asking him if he was fond of music.
"No, madam" replied the philosopher; "but
of all noises, think music is the least agreea-
ble." He would agree with the poet who
says:
Heard melodies are sweet, hut those unheard are
sweeter
The favorite recreation of Pope's leisure
hours was the society of painters. Nothing
was more agreeable to the poet than to spend
an occasional evening with his friend Knell-
er, who, to use the words of Thackeray,
dragged more, spelt worse, and painted bet
ter, than any artist of his day." 1Tarburton
tells us an amusing anecdote of the two
friends. MIR. Pope was with Sir Godfley
Kneller one day when his nephew, Guinea
trader, came in. Nephew, said Sir Godfrey,
.'you have the honor of seeing the two great
est men in the world" 81 don't know how
great you may be-" said the Guinea man,
"but don't like your looks. l have often
bought man much better than both of you
together, all muscles and bones, for ten gum
cas-"
Another great painter, Sir Joshua Reynolds
used to amuse himselfin his last days in his
house in Leicester Square with little tame
bird, which, like the fav Jrite spil.r of the
prisoner in the Bastille, often served TO while
away a lonely hour. But this proved fleet
ing pleasure, for one summer morning, the
window of the chamber being by accident left
open, the little favorite took fight, and was
irrecoverably lost, although its m ster wan
dered for hours in the square and neighbol
hood in the frutless endeavor to regain it.
The favorite recreations of Irhe late Field
marshal Count Won M)ltke were chess and
whist which he rarely missed playing after
dinner
The count was an auth ority on the culture
of roses; and at kroisau, where he spent most
of his time after his retirement from active
service, he possessed one Of the fl lest and
most antique collections of roses 10 Germany.
Sir William Temple relaxed his min1 from
the affairs of state by clipping his apricots or
cativating his tulips. Gardening was an ex
ercsa in which he much INDUCED. An epic
urean himself, he says in his famous Essay
OH Gardens" "Epicurus passed his life Who'll
ly in his garden. There he studied, there he
exercised, there he taught his philosophy; and
indeed" he goes on to say, "no other sort of
abode seems to contribute so much to both the
tranquility of mind and Incidence of BODY
which he made his chief ends" Other great
men. as well as Epicurus and his disciple, Sir
William, have loved gardening without how