80
INDUBTltV VS. VAQAHnONDISM.
VOL. Vtlt,
r -Hi
t4m
French history, ft woeful experience for
humanity. In the first place it stands
out ns a solemn warning to all nations.
Again it was the means of rendering
Fnuice one of the most powerful nations
on the globe. The Revolution certainly
eradicated all those evils that had pro
duced it. So at its close the country,
though in a very prostrate condition, was
free from them. The principles of liber
ty and equality were indelibly stamped
upon the minds of the people and not
withstanding a limited monarchy was
adopted it was afterwards abandoned for
a republican form of government. Had
it not been for the Revolution France
might still be plowing through the waves
of an endless ocean under the guidance
of an absolute monarchy. B. C. A.
INDUSTRY VS. VAGABONDISM.
Man bears all the outward appearance
of an active being; he works, schemes,
and saves in his efforts to attain independ
ence. We refer not to the savage nor the
vagabond, but to the merchant, the me
chanic, and the professional man. He
may be seen early in the morning, hast
ening to his oflice, work-shop, or lecture
room. There he remains, wide awake,
encrget'c, and bustling, until a late hour
of the night, pausing only when compel
led to do so from exhaustion. This is a
rspresentation of the typical American.
But man is mortal, and over-exertion of
mind or body must be relieved by recrea
tion unless it would be paid for in pain.
Of the two evils he generally chooses the
least.
Recreation is the great safety-valve of
the human system. After a man has been
under high pressure for a scries of weeks
and mouths, nothing will so quickly re
store him to health as a short vacation
spent in relaxation and frolic. In order
to be most prolific of good, recreation
should approach as nearly as possible to
an imitation of the habits of crude aud
untutored man. To regain his resources,
one should not be content to wait for them
to come to him, but should go in pursuit
of them. He must work just as zealous,
ly to repair his health as he did in im
pairing it, only in another direction. If
he has been accustomed to sedentary em
ployments, his recreation should be athe
lclic.
Hunting or fishing excursions are prob
ably conducive to more good than all oth
er amusements combined. Not more for
mal after-noon fishing parties are meant,
but excursions of several weeks duration
to the mountains or plains. One can there
throw off all the restraints and formali
tics of civilized life, anil be, for the time,
a vagabond in the broadest sense of the
word. If wise, he will cast aside all bus
iness cares and only live in the enjoyment
of the present.
With all his manners and etiquette, ev
ery man has a certain amount of the vag
abond in his composition. This can be
best seen in the child, who enters with
zest into all athletic sports, but upon
whom the etiquette of the parlor sits but
rudely.
The refinements ol civilzed life are, at
best, only what has been accomplished al
tcr years of watchful painstaking. The
natural tendencies of man seem to be to
evil; but if they tend to make him what
is familiarly called a vagabond, nothing
is so conducive to happiness aud longevi
ty as to let his natural inclinations be un
restrained. We sometimes hear it asked
why we have no Mcthusalahs in the pres
cut age. It is the writer' opinion that it
is because vagabonds are going out of
fashion. It is a fortunate circumstance
that men's real inclinations lead them to
seek a semi-savage life for a fraction of
the year. More fortunate still is it that
Mrs. Grundy allows them to do so.
However grating to the feelings it may
be to leave off the effeminate occupations
of the store aud oflice, and become for a
time a mere savage, an animal , it must be
done in order to insure continued health