THE

71. RECREATION.

HE Americans, as a people, at least the professional' and mercantile classes, and the other inhabitants of large towns, have too little considered the importance of healthful, generous recreation. They have not learned the lesson contained in the věry word, which teaches that the worn-out man is re-creä'ted, made over again, by the seasonable relaxation of the strained faculties.

2. The Father of History3 tells us of an old king of Egypt, Amasis by name, who used to get up early in the morning, dispatch the business and issue the orders of the day, and spend the rest of the time with his friends, in conviviality' and amusement. Some of the agèd counselors were scandalized, and strove by remonstrance to make him give up this mode of life. "But no," said he, "as the bow always bent will at last break, so the man forever on the strain of thought and action, will at last go mad or break down."

3. Thrown upon a new continent, eager to do the work of twenty centuries in two, the Anglo-American' population has overworked, and is daily overworking itself. From morning to night, from Jănuary to December, brain and hands, eyes and fingers, the powers of the body and the powers of the mind, are kept in spasmodic, merciless activity.

4. There is no lack of a few tasteless and soulless dissipations, which are called amusements; but noble, athletic sports, manly out-door exercises, which strengthen the mind by strengthening the body, are too little cultivated in town or country.

EDWARD EVERETT.

'Professional (pro fesh' un al), relating to employment that requires learning in distinction from a trade.-2 Mer' can tile, relating to merchandise, or the sale of goods; trading. He råd' o tus, called the "Father of History,' a native of Halicarnassus, a Dorian city in Asia Minor, was born B. c. 484.- Con viv i ål' i ty, festive mirth; eating and drinking. Scån' dalized, offended by a supposed criminal action.— * Century (sent' yu ri), the period of a hundred years.-' An' glo-A mår'i can (ång' glo), relating to the descendants of Englishmen in America.— Spasmodic (spaz måd' ik), consisting in spasms; relating to the motion of the muscles, without regard to the will.- Ath lêt' ic, belonging to the exercise of strength of body, as jumping, wrestling, &c.

72. THE STUDY OF HISTORY.

Teacher. I hear that you have made great progress in history, and that you have at home a very able instructress in it.

Pupil. Yes, that is the case; our governess knows all history, and I have profited much from her instruction.

T. But what have you learned? Tell me.

P. All history.

T. But what is all history?

P. (Hesitating.) All history? Why it is-it is—what is in books.

T. Well, I have here many books on history, as Herodotus, Livy,' Tacitus, and others; I suppose you know those authors. P. No, I do not; but I know the facts related in history.

T. I dare say you do; I see, however, that, out of your knowledge of all history, we must deduct a knowledge of the authors who have written it. But perhaps that governess of yours has informed you who Homer, Hesiod,3 Plato' and the other poets and philosophers were?

P. I don't think she has; for, if she had, I should have remembered it.

T. Well, we must then make one further deduction from your knowledge of all history; and that is, the history of the poets and philosophers.

P. Why, I said just now that I did not learn those things; I learned matters of fact and events.

T. But those things, as you call them, were men; however, I now understand you: the knowledge you acquired was a knowledge of things, but not of men; as, for instance, you learned that the city of Rome was built, but you did not learn any thing of the men that built it.

P. True, true. (As if repeating by rote.) Rome was built

'Livy, an illustrious Roman historian, was born in Italy, B. c. 59. He died in the seventy-seventh year of his age, A. D. 18.—2Caius Cornelius Tacitus, a noted Roman historian, born in A. D. 58, or 59. The time of his death is unknown.-'Homer and Hesiod were two of the earliest of the Greek poets. Plato was one of the Greek philosophers. - De důc' tion, taking away; lessening.

by Romulus and Remus, twin brothers, the sons of Rhea Sylvia and Mars; they were exposed, while infants, by king Amulius, and afterward a shepherd brought them up and educated them.

T. Enough, enough, my good little friend; you have shown me now what you understand by the history of men and things. But, pray, tell me what other men and things you were instructed in; for instance, tell me who and what Sylla was.

P. He was a tyrant of Rome.

T. Was the term tyrant the name of an officer?

P. Indeed, I do not know; but Sylla is certainly called, in history, a tyrant.

T. But did you not learn that he was dictator,' and what the authority and duties of that officer were? and the authority of the consuls, tribunes of the people, and other magistrates among the Romans?

2

P. No, I did not; for those things are hard, and are not so entertaining as great exploits, and would have taken up too much time.

T. As to that, you will perhaps be better able to judge here after. Well, then, from your knowledge of all history, we must strike off all knowledge of the offices of the Roman magistrates.

P. Ah! but we took more pleasure in reading about wars and exploits.

T. Well, did you ever hear of Carthage, and the wars carried on against her?

P. Oh, yes; there were three Carthaginian wars.

T. Tell me, then, which party was victorious.

P. The Romans.

T. But were they victorious at the beginning?

P. Oh, no (as if repeating by rote); they were beaten in four battles, by Hannibal: at Ticinium, Trebia, the Thrasymene lake, and Cannæ.

'Dic ta' tor, an officer of unlimited power, created only in times of great difficulty and danger.-- Con' suls were the chief officers of the government of Rome after the expulsion of the kings.-- Trib' unes were officers appointed to look after the interests of the common people.- Hån'ni bal, one of the most illustrious ancient generals, was born at Carthage B. C. 247, and died B. c. 183, in the sixty-fifth year of his age.

T. Did your governess tell you the causes of these defeats of the Romans?

P. No, she did not tell us the causes, but the matters of fact. T. Perhaps you understand yourself the causes why the Romans finally retrieved their affairs?

P. To be sure I do: the cause was their bravery.

T. But were they not brave also at the beginning of those wars?

P. Certainly they were.

T. Then their bravery was the cause of their being conquered, and being conquerors?

P. Why-why-I don't know as to that; but I know I never was asked such hard questions before.

T. Well, well; I will ask you something easier. Is it to be supposed that the Romans would have come off victorious in that war, if the powerful sovereigns of that age had united their forces with the Carthaginians?

P. (With an air of surprise.) mean?

What sovereigns do you

T. Why, do you not know, that in that age there were in Macedonia, Asia, Syria, and Egypt, all those powerful kings who were the successors' of Alexander the Great?

P. Oh, yes, I know that; but we used to take up their history in another chapter. I never thought of their living at the time of the second Punic war.

T. Do you not perceive, then, that their mutual rivalry was the cause why they did not unite their forces with the Carthaginians to oppose the Romans, in consequence of which, those same kings were afterward conquered, one by one, by the Romans?

P. I perceive it now, since you have told me of it; and I derive much gratification from your remark.

T. It is indeed true, that the perception of the causes of things is not only gratifying, but useful. However, we must still go on to make further deductions from your stock of all history; we must deduct the knowledge of causes.

'Success' or, one who takes the place which another has left, and sustains the like part and character.

P. I can not deny that, to be sure; but I am positive that, with the exceptions you have now made, we learned every thing else in history.

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73. THE STUDY OF HISTORY-CONCLUDED.

Teacher. Well, tell me about some of the other things that you learned; tell me what is the beginning of history.

Pupil. The creation of the world.

T. But I meant to ask you about men, and the affairs of men. P. (As if repeating by role.) The first human beings were Adam and Eve, whom God created on the sixth day, after his own image, and placed in paradise, from which they were afterward expelled, and—

T. Don't go any further, I beg of I see you you; have got some little book well by heart; but tell me now, generally, about what men and things, subsequent' to those, were you instructed by your governess?

P. About the posterity of Adam, the patriarchs before and after the flood, and all about the Jewish nation, to the time of their overthrow.

T. But what makes you think that those things you learned are true?

P. Because they are delivered to us by divine inspiration' in the holy Scriptures.

T. But did you find the Roman history, and other things that you have learned, all in the holy Scriptures?

P. Certainly not.

T. But yet you believe them?

P. Believe them! why not? They are related in other books that are worthy of credit.

T. Pray, what books are those?

P. Our governess had two: one, a small book, that we learned to recite; the other, a large work, in several volumes, from which she sometimes read to us.

'Sůb' se quent, following; coming after. In spi rå'tion, act of breathing into a thing. Divine inspiration is the knowledge given by God to

men.