The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1896-04-10

L ''~~~-
, the storm actually clouds tht
sky, IL will be timC enough Tor you *
, haul out your reef tackles. Carry,
then, into your homes not only the In
|. nocent sports and games which are the
inventions of our own day, but the
games which came down with the
sportfulness Of all ages--chess and
charades and tableaux and battledore
and calisthenics and lawn tennis and
all those amusements which the young
people of our homes know how well TO
contrive. Then there will be the par
lor socials-groups of people assembled
in your homes, with wit, and mimicry
and joviality, filling the room with JOY
from door to mantel, and from the car
pet to the ceiling. Oh, is there any
exhilaration like a score OF genial
souls in one room, and each one add
ing con tribution of his own individ-
ual merriment to the aggregation OF
general hilarity.
Suppose you want to go abroad in
the city, then you will find the pan O.
rama and the art gallery and the ex-
quisite collections of pictures. You
will find the museum and the Histor.
ical society rooms full of rare cnriosi-
ties, and the scores OF places which can
stand pla inly the test of what is right
and wrong in amusements. You will
find the lecturing hall, which has
been honored by the names OF
Agassiz in natural history, Dore-
mus in chemistry, Boynton IN
geology, Mitchell in astronomy, John
B. Cough in moral reform, and scores
and hundreds of men who have poured
their wit and genius and ingenuity
through that particular channel upon
the hearts and consciences and the
imaginations of men, setting this
country so years farther in advance
than it would have been without the
lecture platform.
rejoice in the popularization of out
door sports. / hail the croquet ground
and the fisherman S rod and the sports
mans gun. In our cities life is SO un-
healthy and unnatural that when the
census-taker represents a city having
4O0,0 900 inhabitants, there are only 200,-
600, since it takes at least two men to
amount to one man, SO deplet~
ing and unnerving and exhaust
ing is this metropolitan life.
We want more fresh air, more
sunlight, more of the abandon OF
field sports. cry out for it in behalf
of the Church of God as well as in be-
half of secular interests. wish that
our ponds and our rivers and our Capt.
toline grounds might be all aquake
with the heel and the shout Of the
swift skater. / wish that when the
warm weather comes the graceful oar
might dip the stream, and the evening
tide be resonant with boatmen's song,
the bright prov splitting the crystal
line billow.
We shall have the smooth and grassy
lawn, and we will call out people of all
occupations and professions and ask
them to join in the ball-player's sport.
You will come back from these outdoor
exercises and recreations with strength
in your arm and color in your cheek
and flash in your eye and courage
in your heart. In this great battle
that is opening against the kingdom
u
Grated soul, but strong arm and stout
lungs and mighty muscle. bless God
that there are so many recreations
that have not on them any faint of in
EQUITY; recreations in which we may
engage for the strengthening Of the
body, for the clearing Of the intellect,
for the illumination of the soul.
There is still anoth err form of recre-
alton which commend toyou, and that
is the pleasure of doing good. / have
seen young men, weak and cross and
sour and repelling in their disposition
who by one heavenly touch have
wakened up and became blessed and
buoyant, the ground under their feet
and the sky over their heads breaking
forth into music. ''Oh," says some
young man in the house to-day, II
all others, but / have not tho
means" My dear brother, let us take
an account of stock. You have large |
estate, if you only realize it. Two |
hands. Two feet You will have,
perhaps, during the next year at least |
$40 for charitable contribution. You
will have $500 cheerful looks, if you
want to employ them. You will have
5000 pleasant words if you want |
to speak them. Now, what an amount
that is to start with.
The last hour of your life will soon
be here, and from that hour we will re-
view this days proceedings. 1t will
be solemn hour. If from our death
pillow we have to look back |
and see life spent in sinful amuse-
ment, there will be dart that will |
strike through our soul sharner than