ent as not to think continually, on one
subject or another. And it is this constant thinking, more than anything
else, that creates the necessity of which I am speaking. The mere
drudge, whether biped or quadruped--he, I mean, whose thinking powers
are scarcely alive--has little need of the relief which is afforded by
amusement.

The young of all animals--man among the rest--appear to have such an
instinctive fondness for amusement, that so long as they are
unrestrained, they seldom need any urging on this point. In regard to
_quality_, the case is somewhat different. In this respect, most
children require attention and restraint; and some of them a great deal
of it.

But what is the nature of the amusement which adults--nay, mankind
generally--require? I answer, it is relief from the employment of
thinking. For it is not that mankind do not really think at all, that
moralists complain so loudly. When they tell us that men will not
think, they mean that they will not think as rational beings. They
think, indeed; and so do the ox, and the horse, and the dog, and the
elephant--but not as rational men ought to do; and this it is that
constitutes the burden of complaint. But you will probably find few
persons belonging to the human species who do not think constantly, at
least while awake; and whose mental powers do not become fatigued, and
demand relief in amusement.

Children's minds are so soon wearied by a continuous train of thinking,
even on topics which are pleasing to them, that they can seldom he
brought to give their attention to a single subject long at once. They
require almost incessant change; both for the sake of relief, and to
amuse for the _sake_ of amusement. And it is, to my own mind, one of
the most striking proofs of Infinite Wisdom in the creation of the human
mind, that it has, during infancy, such an irresistible tendency to
amusement.

How greatly do they err, who grudge children, especially very young
children, the time which, in obedience to the dictates of their nature,
they are so fond of spending in sports and gambols! How much more
rational would it be to encourage and direct them in their amusements!
And how exceedingly unwise is the practice, whenever and wherever it
exists, of confining them to school rooms and benches, not only for
hours, but for whole half days at once.

If individuals and circumstances were everywhere combined, with the
special purpose to oppose the intentions of