The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1898-06-30
is TT GOOD Or ETIL2
Character Of Amusements Discussed
BY Rev. Dr.. TaImage.
Not All Popular Methods Of Recreation
ars ElarinfuL But There Are
Many Dangerous Hss
10 b Avoided.

loving 6erfaDu pyputA
nmusements aud applies tests by whiel
their influence for good Or evil may b
determined The text IS:
And C came y pass, when their heart1 aer.
merfg. that they sold. Can foF amB0R thai
be Tuay make ua sport Ana ghey called tgi
samson 0ut 0f me prison house aud he made
them sport Judges XVI %
There were 5000 persons assembled
10 the Temple Of DagOn They had
come 10 make sport Of eyeless samson.
They we're an ready for the entertain-
ment. They began 10 clap and pound,
impatient for the amusement b begin,
and they cried. Fetch him out! Fetch
him Uutl7 Yonder / see the blind old
giant coming, led bY the hand Of a
child into the very midst Of the temple.
Al his first appearance there goes up q
shout Of laughter and derision, The
blind old giant pretends he Is tired and
wantst0 rest himself against the pillars
Of the house so be says 10 the lad who
leads him: bring me where the main
pillars are. The lad does 30, Then the
strong man puts his hands on a Of
the pillars and, with the mightlest
push that mortal ever made, throws
himself forward until the whole
house comes down 10 thunderous crash,
grinding the audience Ike grapes in q
wineprcss. "And so Ii came TO pass,
when their hearts were merry, that
they said: Call for sampson, that he
may make sport" And they called for
samson out Of the prison house, and
he made them sport. IN other words,
there are andsements that are destruc-
tive and bring down disaster and death
upon tile heads Of those who practice
them While they laugh and cheer
they die. The 1000 who persisted that
day IN GAIA are nothing compared
with the tens Of thousands who have
been destroyed, body, mind and soul,
by bad |amusements and Wy good amuse-
ments carried to excess.
Ia my 8ermoug you must have mo-
tleed that / have no sympathy with
ecclesiastical Graight-iackets or with
that wholesale d]cnuuciation Of amuse-
meuts % which many are pledged l
believe the church Of God has made q
tremendous mistake in trying TO sup
press the spOrtiuincss Of youth and
drive out from men their love Of amuse-
meuts. II God ever implanted anything
30 0a, We implanted this desire Bat
instead Of providing for this demand Of
our nature, the church Of God has for
the main part ignored u, As 10 riot
the mayor plants o battery al the
end Of the street and has it tired
off 80 that everything Is cut down
that happens 10 stand in the range, the
good az well as the bad, 50 there are
men ia the church who plant sheir
batteries OF condemnation and fire
away indiscriminatelv, Everything is
condemned. They talk as IL they would
like to have our youth dress in blue
uniform, Hike The children Of an orphan
asylum and march down the path Of
life 10 the tune Of the Dead March Ia
Saul. They hnte a blue sash, or a rose
bud In the hair, or q tasseIed gaiter,
and think o man almost ready for the
]lunatic asylum who uttors a Conun
drum.
Young Mems Christian associations
Of the country are doing q glorious
work. They have fine reading rooms,
and al the influences are Of the best
kind, aud are now adding -gymnasiums
uBd bowling alleys, where, without any
evil surroundings, our young men may
get physical as well as spiritual lm-
pr0Ycment We arc d%wiudIing away
10 o uarrow-Chested weaS-afmcd, fee
blc-voiccd race, when God calls TO a
work In which he wants physical as
we'll as spiritual athletes, / would to
God that the time might soon come
when In all MI colleges and theu-
logical s]eminariea, as at Prince.
ton o gymnasium shall be estnh-
lished. We spend seven years of hard
study in preparation for the ministry.
aud come out with bronchitis and
dyspepsia and liver complaint, and
then crawl up into the pulpit, and the
people say; Don't he look heavenly
because he looks siclly let the
church of God direct, rather than at
tempt TO suppress, the desire for
amusement The best men that the
world ever knew have had their sports
William Wilberfarce truudled hoop
with his children, Martin Luther
helped dress the Christmas tree. Min.
listers have pitched quotts, p]hilanthro-