Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1896-04-09

are afforded you. Buy season tickets If
you can for tho Philharmonic and tho
Handel and Haydn societies. Feel that
the 81 90 or 81 that you spend for tho pur-
pose of hearing 2n artist play or sing is IA
profitable Investment. Lot your academies
of music roar with the reclamation of APP
prcciative audiences Assem- bled at the con-
cert or the oratorio.
Physical Culture.
Still further l commend, rs worthy Of
their support, tho gymnasium. This in
stitution is gaining in favor every year,
and 1 know of nothing moro FREQ from
dissipation, or moro calculated to reoupor-
ate tho physical and mental energies.
While there are good many people who
have employed this institution, there Is q
vast number who are ignorant Of its ex-
celloncies. There arc men with crampod
chests and weak sides and despondcnt
spirits who through the gymnasium might
be reused up to exuberance and exhiara-
ton of life. There arc many Christian
people respondent from year to year, who
might, through such an institution, DO
benefited in their spiritual relations
There arc Christian people who seem to
think that 1t Is good sign TO be poorly;
and because Richard Baxter and Robert
Hall were invalid, they think that by tho
Same sicklincss they may como to the Same
grandeur of character. want to toll tho
Christian people of my congregation that
God will hold you responsible for your in
validism If It Is your fault, and when,
through right exercise and prudence, you
might be athletic and we'll. Tho effect Of
the body upon tho soul you acknowledge.
Put man Of mild disposition upon tho
at al a tat ,,f hn Tn RI Gnc
and in a littlo whilo his blood will change
its chemical proportions. 1t will become
like unto the blood of the lion, or tho tiger,
or the bear, while his disposition will
change. and become force and unrclent-
ing. Tho body has powerful effect upon
the soul.
There are good people whose ideas Of
heaven arc all shut out with clouds of to-
bacco smoke There arc people who dare
to shattcr tho physical vase in which God
has put tho jewel of eternity. Thcre arc
men with great hearts and intollocts, in
bodies worn out by their own neglects-
magnificent machinery, capable Of pro-
pellng a Majestic across tho Atlantic, yet
fastened In riokety North river propeller.
Martin Luther was so mighty for God,
first, because he had noble soul, and sec
ondly because he had u muscular develop
ment which would have enabled him to
thrash any five of his prosecutors, If 1t had
been Christian so to do. Physical dovel-
opment which merely shows itself In fabu
lous lifting, or in perilous ropo walking, or
in pugilistic encounter, excites only our
contempt but we confess to great admira-
ton for tho man who has great soul in
an athletic body, every nerve, muscle and
bone of which is consecratcd to right uses.
Oh 1t seems to mo outrageous that mon,
through neglect, should allow their phys
ical health to 20 down beyond ropair-a
ship which ought, with all sail sot and ev
cry man at his post, to DO carrying rich
cargo for eternity, employing all its mon
in stopping up lcakages! When you may,
through tho gymnasium, work off your
spleen and your querulousncss and one
half of your physical and mental ailments,
do not turn your back upon such grand
medcament.
Parlor Games.
Still further, commend to you largo
class of parlor games and rccroations.
Thore Is way of making our homes u
| hundredfold more attractive than they arc
now. Those parents cannot expect to
keep their children away from outside dis
sipations unless they make the domestic
circle brighter than anything they can find
outside of it. Do not then, sit in your
home surly and unsympathetic and with "a
half condemnatory look because OF tho
sportfulness Of your children. You were
young once yourself; let your children DO
young. Because your eyes are dim and
your ankles arc stiff, do not denounce
sportfulness in those upon whose eyes there
Is the first luster, and in whose foot there
Is the bounding JOY of robust health. |
! thank God that in our drawing rooms and
in our parlors there are innumerable games
and sports which have not upon them the
least faint of iniquity.
Light up all your homes with innocent
hilaritics. Do not sit down with the rheu-
mutism, wondering how children can GO
on so. Rather thank God that their hearts
arc so light, and their laughter is so free,
and their checks arc so ruddy, and that
their expectations are so radiant. The
night will como soon enough, and the
heartbreak, and tho pang, and the desola
tion-it will come soon enough for the
dear children. But when the storm actu-
ally clouds the sky 1t will DO time enough
for you to haul out your reef tackles.
Carry, them into your homes not only the
innocent sports and games which are the
inventions of our own day, but the games
which come down with the sportfulncss OF
all the past aRcs-chcss and charadcs and
tableaux and battledore and caisthenics
and lawn tennis, and all those amusemonts
which the young people of our homes know
SO well how to contrive. Then there will
DO tho parlor socialities-groups of people
assembled in your homes, with wit and
mimicry and joviality, filling tho room
with JOY from door to mantel, and from
the carpet to tho ceiling. Oh, Is there any
exhilaration like score Of genial souls il
one room, each ono adding u contribution
Of his own individual merrimont to thC
aggregation of general hilarity?
Suppose you want to go abroad in the
city, then you will find the panorama, ant
the art gallery, and tho exquisite collcc
tions of pictures. You will find the mu
scum and tho Historical society rooms full
of rare curiosities, and scores of place.
which can stand plainly the test of what i!
right and wrong in amusements. You
will find the lecturing hall, which has beeI
honored by the names Of Agassiz in natura
! history, Doremus in chemistry, Boyntor
in geology, Mitchell in astronomy, JOIN
b. Cough In moral reform, and scores ant
hundreds of men who have poured theil
! wit and genius and ingenuity through
that particu ar channel upon tho heart,
and consciences and inlaginations of men
setting this country 80 years farther II
advance tha' it would have been without
the lecture platform.
rejoice In the popularization Of outdoo
sports. I >,il the croquet ground, an,
the fisherm' ~ rod, and the sportsman