Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1904-12-29

Here feel drawn to speak of some
thing very particular, and in so doing
to offer my well disposed readers an
| opportunity to go about Il splendid
business | want to call their at
tention to several classes Of people
seldom thought of with reference to
| their pleasures.
It is understood that a broom serves
only to sweep, a watering pot to water
| plants, coffee mill to grind coffee,
and likewise it is supposed that a
nurse is designed only to care for the
| sick, n professor to teach, a priest to
preach, bury and confess. sentinel to
mount guard; and the conclusion is
llrawn that the people given up to the
more serious business of life are dedi-
Gated to labor, like the OK Amuse-
ment is incompatible with their activ-
| tiles Pushing this view still further.
we think ourselves warranted in be-
! lieving that the infifm, the AFFLICTED.
! the bankrupt, the vanquished in life's
| battle and all those who carry heavy
| burdens are in the shade, like the
/ northern slopes of mountains, and that
it is so of necessity, whence the con-
clusion that serious people have no
need of pleasure and that to offer it
| to them would be unseemly, willie as
! to the afflicted, there would be Il lack
| of delicacy in breaking the thread Of
| their sad meditations. 1t seems there
| fore to be understood that certain per-
/ sons are condemned TO be always Sc
rious, that we should approach them in
| a serious frame of mind and talk to
/ them only of serious things. So. too,
when we visit the sick or unfortunate.
we should leave our smiles at the door,
compose our face and manner to dole
/ fulness and talk of anything heart
rending Thus we carry darkness to
| those in darkness, shade to those in
shade We increase the isolation of
| solitary lives and the monotony of the
dull and sad. We wall up some exist
ences. rs it were. in dungeons, and
| because the grass grows round their
deserted prison house we speak low in
approaching it, as though it were a
| tomb Who suspects the work of in
fernal cruelty which is thus accom-
| plished every day in the world. This
ought not to be.
/ When you find men or women whose
lives are lost in hard tasks or in the
painful office Of seeking out human
wretchedness and binding up wounds,
remember that they are beings made
| like you; that they have the same
wants; that there are hours when they
need pleasure and diversion. You will
not turn them aside from their mission
| by making them laugh occasionally,
these people who see so many tears
and griefs On the contrary, you will
give them strength to go on the better
with their work.
| And when people whom you know
are in trial, do not draw sanitary cor
| don round them, as though they had
the plague, that you cross only with
precautions which recall to them their
sad lot. On the contrary, after show
| ing all your sympathy, all your respect,
/ for their grief, comfort them, help
them to take up life again, carry them
a breath from the out of doors some
thing, in short, to remind them that
| their misfortune does not shut them
off from the world.
! And so extend your sympathy to
i those whose work quite absorbs them;
who are so to put it, tied down. The
world is full of men and women sac
rificed to others, who never have either
rest or pleasure and to whom the least
relaxation. the slightest respite, is a
priceless good And this minimum of
comfort could be so easily found for
them if only we thought of it. But the
broom, you know, is made for sweep
/ ing, and it seems as though it could
not be fatigued Let us rid ourselves
of this criminal blindness which pre-
vents us from seeing the exhaustion
of those who are always in the breach.
Relieve the sentinels perishing at their
posts; give Sisyphus an hour to breathe:
\ take for moment the place OF the
mother, slave to the cares of her
house and her children; sacrifice an
hour of our sleep for some one Worn
| by long yigls with the sick. Young
| girl, tired sometimes perhaps of your
walk with your governess, take the
| cooks apron and give her the key to
| the fields You will at once make 9th
ers happy and be happy yourself We
go unconcernedly along beside our
brothers who are bent under burdens
we might take upon ourselves for a
minute And this short respite would
suffice to soothe aches, revive the flame
of joy in many heart and open up
| wide place for brotherlineSS How
much better would one understand an
other if he knew how to put himself
| heartily in that others place. and how
much more pleasure there would be in
life!
| have spoken too fully elsewhere
of systematizing amusements for the
young to return to it here in detail, but
/ wish to say in substance what can
not be too often repeated: II you wish