Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1901-06-06
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= AGES i suhDl I sfRmoa
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Ael1 lsf,lss I'd Blythe Emlneat Dl
vine Good coupsei sl,s| .,ssI|
g. 4Cepyrikht 1s6l.l IS. -
f AsHINdtoN, 70. G. This d;sca,,raa., a,,. 3,
Dr. almage is III accord with alI inrocep1 81 s.
n1larltles, while It reprehen1sS aInusene,,f.
!nat .belIttle and depTave text. III SANTA
le IS, let the young men nows arise and
piey before US, IS Z .
There are two armies ii encamped So AM
! peel of. lbeens The time hangs heayilv
lon tnesrss bands pne army proposes .
gsmsl e SWORD fencing othme could be
army accepts the challenge. Twelve men
against twelve men, the sport opens. Rnt
something SO went adversely. Perhaps one
OF the sWordsmen got an unlucky slim or
IN some way Lad his ire aroused. and that
which opened in sportfulness ended in VIC.
ience, each one taking his contestant bv
the halr and then with the sword thrust
ing MIN IN the side, SO that that which
opened IN innocent fun ended in the mas
sacre OF all the twenty-four sportsmen
Was there ever a better Illustration of
What was true then and is true now-that
that which is innocent may be made de-
structive?
What of a worldly nature is more IN
portant and strengthening and INNOCENT
than amusement, and yet what has count
ed more victims? have no sympathy
with a straitjacket religion. This is a yery
bright y, world to me, and propose to do
all can to make it bright for others. I
vfo 10 l.
book years ago issued says that Chris
tan man has right to some amusements.
or instance, it he comes at night weary
from his work and, feeling the need Of
recreat ton, puts on his slippers and goes
into his garret and walks lively round the
noor several times there can be no harm
IN IT. l believe the church of God has
made great mistake in trying to suppress
Ine sportfuiness OF youth and drive out
from men their love of amusement. IF
God ever implanted anything in us, He
implanted this desire. But instead of pro-
v1dlng for this demand of our nature the
church OF God has for the main part 10
nored 1t. AS in a riot the mayor plants
battery at the end Of the street and has it
tired OFF SO that everything is cut dowr.
that happens to stand in the range. the
good as well as the bad, so there are men
IN the church who plant their batteries of
condemnation and fire away indiscrim;n-
ately. Everything is condemned. But
Paul, the apostle, commends those who
use the world without abusing it. and in
the natural world God has done everything
to please and amuse us.
And l am glad to know that in all our
cities there are plenty of places where we
may lind. elevated moral entertainment.
but all honest men and good women will
agree with me in the statement that one
OF the worst things in these cities is cor
rupt amusement. Multitudes have gone
down under the blasting influence, never
to rise. 1t we may judge of what is going
on IN many of the places of amusement by
the pictures on board fences and in many
OF the show windows, there is not much
lower depth OF prohigacy to reach At
Naples, Italy, they keep such pictures
locked up from indiscriminate inspection.
those pictures were exhumed from Pom
pen, and are not fit for public gaze. II the
eetfrontery of bad places of amusement in
hanging out improper advertisements of
what they are doing night by night grows
worse in the same proportion, in fifty
years. some OF our modern cities will beat
Pompeii.
| project certain principles by which
you may judge in regard to any amusement
or recreation, finding out for yourself
whether it is right or wrong
l remark, IN the first place, that you can
Judge OF the moral character of any amuse.
pent by its healthful result or by it's bale
fuf reaction. There are people who seem
made up of hard facts. They are a combi-
nation OF multiplication tables and statis-
tics. II you show them an exquisite pic
ture they will begin to discuss the pig
ments involved in the coioring. IF YOU
show them beautiful rose they will sub
init 1t TO a'botanical analysis, which is only
the po5J-mOrtem examination of a flower.
They have no rebound in their nature.
They never do any ything more than smile.
There are no great tides OF feeling surging
up from the depths of their soul in biIlow
alter bliloW OF reverberating laughter. They
seem as 1t nature had built them by con-
tract and made a bungling job of it. But
blessed be God, there are people in the
world who have bright faces and whose
life is song, an anthem, paean of vic
tory.
Now, it is these exhilarant and sympa-
thetlc and warm hearted people that are
most tempted to pernicious amusements.
In proportlon,, as ship is swift it wants a
strong $ OF g helmsnan, = IN proportion as horse
Is gay IT wants a stout driver, and these
people OF exuberant nature will do well to
look at the reaction of all their amuse-
ments. Ii an amusement sends you home
at night nervous, so that you cannot sleep.
and you rise up in the morning not be-
cause you are slept out, but, because your
duty drags you iroLA your 3slumbers, you
have been where you ought not to have
been. There are amusements that send a
man next day to his work with his eyes
bloodshot, yawning, stupid, nauseated, and
they are wrong kinds of amusement. They
are entertainments that give man dis
gust with the drudgery of life, with tools
because they are not swords, with work
ing aprons because they are not robes,
with cattle because they are not infuriated
bulls of the arena.
1t any amusement sends you home long
ing for life Of romance and thrilling ad-
venture, love that takes poison and shoots
itself, moonlight adventures and hair-
breadth escapes, you may depend upon it
that you are the sacrificed victim of un-
sanctified pleasure. Our recreations are
intended to build us up, and if they pull
us down as to our moral or as to our ply
slcal strength you may come to the con-
cluslon that they are obnoxious.
There is nothing more depraving than
attendance upon amusements that are full
of innuendo and low suggestion. The
young man enters. At first he sits far
back, with his hat on and his coat collar
up, fearful that somebody there may know
him. Several nights pass on. He takes off
his hat earlier and puts his coat collar
down. The blush that first came into his
cheek when anything indecent was enacted
comes no more to his cheek. Farewell,
young man! You have probably started
on. the long road which ends in consum-