The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1905-01-28
RECREATION
~ HE Americans have carried the
doctrine of work for work $

-
sake as far as any people, per-
haps, who ever inhabited the globe.
They are striving and toiling early and
bate; they regard leisure with some sort
of suspicion; they nearly always make
O kind of apology when they say they
have mot done much on particular
and industry long after the spur of ne
cC2Sity les them on. y wealthy WC&-
terner, being asked why he continued to
pile NJ money when he certainly did not
need Hry more, said that he had '"strucl
the gGit" in early life; hGd hrcGmc add
justcd to it. and continued from mere
force of habit to work without cc>sa-
=, tion. He knew that he would, rs the
physician warmed him. die with the
''haruc,e Or but that was the ".tm"ri-
can way," and he couldn't change it.
As n rule. those who urge Americans
to wcr', more bring ~,o'S to Newcastle.
Amp~irnn- have learned to work, hut
they harn almost ror@o;t~n how to
play. "Thcy are rs sick, that surfcit
too much, as they that staryc with
nothing"
The life 81 incidence is, rs Cowpcr,
the poet said, the really sad existence,
and the people who lcHd the busy life
and do not too much pursue happiness
are those whom happiness is most
likely to find; hut the constant, unrc-
heved strain of hard toll is the course
which brraks mcn and renders them
miserable The bow. says CcrvantcS.
cannot possibly always stand bent, nor
can human nature or human frailty
subsist without Sdls' lawful rrcrca-
ton. ''''
Man is the only animal that laughs.
think that an intelligent dog comes
very near to laughing. This power Of
expressing his emotion was not given
TO man for nothing; but there is Il vast
number of hiGh-mnded and useful citi-
zenS carrying on their duties admi-
rably who age before their time. make
life unrcnsonably dead and bitter for
their families and those who come in
contact with them, because the fun has
gone out. They are like the business
man. startled by something inexpress-
IDLY funny into hearty laughter, which
was most unusual with him, who was
rather Saddened by the outburst be-
cause he discovered that he had almost
lost the capacity for laughter. We need
professors of recreation and of good
humor and preachers of the need and
the duty of cheerfulness and mirth; we
need to recognize the fact that good
humor and laughter and fun should be
just as much a part of our daily regi-
men rDs work and other duties; and the
healthy family ought to set aside
portion of every day, like Longfellow's
"Chidren's Hour" when it is under
stood that the members of the family
will rccrcatc themselves in some way.
however simple.
a good laugh is sunshine in n house,
says Thackery; and he adds that peo-
pie who do not know how to laugh are
always pompous and Sclf-conceited.
Some people who are neither conceitcd
NOT pompOuS never can learn to laugh
readily, because they find food for
laughter in few things; but most pco-
themselves to chccrfulness and put for
ward the good-humoTed side of their
nature. Though they may find it diff
cult to follow the Shakcspearean adj
vice "Frame your mind to mirth and
meTiment, which bar a thousand harms
and lcngthcn life" they may at least
look at the bright and cheerful aspect
of all things and, especially in the
home, take on the joyous hue" delib-
eratcly.
\ family character often depends
upon the temperament and attitude
of the parents toward life. \ sour
visngcd, iraSciblc ill-naturcd, captious
man who is overwrought by his labors
and the stress Of life, and who has
never learned the great lesson that oc-
casional play is the "conservator of
moral. mental and physical health"
will set the nerves of the whole family
on edge; will exercise all fun and live
illness and mirth and cause his children
TO grow up in an atmosphere of gloom
and depression which will 80 work upon
their character and spirit as to change
the course and seriously to affect their
careers in after life. On the other hand,
the parents who cultivate good humor.
and invite jollity and fun and every