The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-10-31

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ton to its spindllng support. he mas a
distaste for those amusements That m
/ yoive much physical exercise. and seems
10 enjoy the Industrial treadmill he mas
MADE for himself. II is difficult, ii iaet,
| TO coax him away from II.
take him away in umnaer TO some
| seaside resertSand he is miserable at the
| end Of the third ard fourth q and ark
ious to get back to business again. lie
may suffer a slight financial loss II ne
1t not on the ground himself, and hence
| ne begins to get nervous and fretfuL ASK
him to run off a week or SO IN the taii
and hunt ducks and he will tell you that
he prefers to stay at home and hunt dol
| lars. Physically speaking, he is a poor,
| deluded. incorrigible slime He does not
comprehend the purpose for which his
| body was given him and Systematically
abuses it.
s.This may be a lover of amusement,
but it is not the out of door kind.
"He seeks recreation at once at the club
house or the opera, but not in the free
| air and under an open sky. If he should
| chance to be a lover of a horse, he con-
tents himself in sitting languidly in a
buggy, when he ought TO be on the ami
mails back. giving his digestive organs a
good shaking UP. This man grows old and
wrinkled before his time. His vitality be-
gins to forsake him when he ought to be
in the very prime of life. Now this is
not the kind of man God likes to see, it
is the type of manhood our modern
-Mammon-ridgen civilization is fast tend
ing to produce in our large cities. As a
people we live too much under cover; we
co ! - rrxf~ ot,f affopar irfn t1p men air
| give our muscles full play
1--WE have no right to tax the brain at
the expense Of the body. Under these cir
| cumstances / believe it is the duty Of
| every clergyman to preach the gospel of
| physical exercise and fresh air, and prac-
tice VIA he breaches. Our Saviour. l
notice. was a great lover of out door life.
He preached often in the open air; today
on a m~ountainside, tomorrow by the sea
| with a fishing smack for his pulpit; and
judging by His abundant healing OF the
| sick we conclude that he took an unusual
interest in the physical well being OF men
| and women. And we who are His follow
ers should do the same. We may not
have the power to heal, but we have the
power to prevent, and prevention is worth
more than cure.
There is a direct relationship between
athletics and righteousness, and the re-
lationship is one of cause and effect. The
man who aspires to be IN athlete must
give considerable time to physical exer-
else, and during this time is led away
from the principal sources of temptation.
If he is a boating man or a bicyclist, he
is out of doors following his ~faVorite
| sport, when otherwise he might be tempt
ed to while away his time in the saloon,
the dance house or the gambling den. The
craze for athletics occupies his time and
| attention and pushes out a variety of
other crazes whose tendency is to ruin
| soul and body. And a second benefit of
athletics is to stimulate the desire to be
| physically strong; to be able to pass other
fellows on the road and demonstrate one's
superiority.
Now, the repressive influence of such
an ambition upon the lusts of the flesh
is something very real and potent. You
athlete cannot be a drunkard or q de-
bauchee. To go into training a man must
curb his appetlties and passions. The
whole current of athletics is against sem
suality and vice. 7 regard ii as one of the
principal handmaids Of religion and in
c~entives to virtue. If his line of argu-
ment is correct it is the duty of the
church TO join hands with athletic assoc
Citations, or have an athletic department
of her own. Saving wood is wholesome
exercise. but / would rather ride a bicy-
Gle any day. or play a game of golf. I
find these latter forms of exercise far
more exhiiiarating and enjoyable. for
they combine amusement with muscular
effort.
Il am glad to see some of our churches
building bowling alleys and gymnasiums
for their young people. This is progress
in the right direction, although if bodily
exercise, as the apostle says. profteth a
little, | know from exercise taken in o
n~ection with some manly, out of door
sport profiteth a great deal. My doctrine
is that The church should take hold of
everything hat is innocent, pure and
healthful. and utilize it enthusiastically
to the glory of God. I know there are
some who stand on a different platform
as touching amusementss but all I can
say is that I think they are wrong.
During my ministerial experience, I
have found two very different kinds Of
Christians in the world. One class are
tinged with the old. ascetic idea of with
drawal from the world, and show little
interest in what is going on around them.
I do not take very kindly to this austere
and reclusive type of religion. If I had
to be tied to it, ] should regard it as
a form of punishment. It is simply inn
possible for me to be that kind of a Chris
tiaD. The other class, and by far the
more numerous class, are those who con-
ceive of religion as extending into all
the various branches of life and permeat-
ing everything with its sweet and genial
influence. 1t is not running away from
the world, but mixing with it and touch
ing it at a thousand different points with
a view to its publication. It is INDUCING
and sympathizing with everything that is
harmless and enjoyable, and maintaining
at the same time a manly Christian walk
and conversation Now you can &ways
tell the class to which a Christian be-
longs by the attitude he takes toward
this subject of amusement.
II am not talking now of questionable
amusements. You may find me a trifie
more conservative on that head when we
come to it than some of you imagine. /
speak of the manifestly innocent sports,
Of the play-element in human nature.
The first class of saints are very solemn
people and impress you as if living in
some future state. They are, as it were,
out of joint with the present. They are