g
till then." The child is in the hands of his parent, his teacher, his
guardian. These must answer to Destiny for his beginning and growth.
"Satan finds something for idle hands to do." Hence the necessity of
vigilance on the part of those who hold the young. But "all work and no
play, makes Jack a dull boy." This rule is good whether "Jack" be a
puny girl, a feeble grandfather, a hustling, responsible father, a busy
mother, or even a mischievous lad. Every person who rises each morning,
dresses himself and goes about his work as if he knew what he were
about; who has some useful work to do, and does it, sooner or later,
needs rest. True, night comes and one may rest. And sweet is the rest of
sleep; a third of one's life is passed in this way. Sancho Panza has it
right when he says:

"Now blessing light on him that first invented sleep! It covers a man
all over, thoughts and all, like a cloak; it is meat for the hungry,
drink for the thirsty, heat for the cold, and cold for the hot." But
one craves a recreation, a rest which work nor sleep can give. Man has
a social nature, a longing to mingle with his acquaintances and friends.
Let one be shut in with work, or sickness, or weather, for whole days
at a time, and see how hungry he gets to see some one. A recreation at
a social gathering literally makes a new being out of him. He is
recreated. It is this form of recreation that we consider here, social
recreation.

A NECESSITY.

Social recreation is a necessity in a well-ordered life. As with many
other common blessings we forget its benefits. Nor are these benefits
so evident until we see the blighting result in the life of the one who,
for any reason whatsoever, has become a social recluse. We have known
a few persons who have once been in society, but who have allowed
themselves to remain away from all sorts of gatherings, for a number of
years. In every case, the result has been openly noticeable. They have
become boorish in manners, unsympathetic in nature, and suspicious in
spirit. Thus they have grown out of harmony with the ideas and ways of
those about them, have come to take distorted and erroneous views of
affairs and of men. Man is a composite being. Many factors enter into
his make-up. He lives not only in the physical and intellectual, in the
religious and social, in a local and limited sense, but his life expands
until it touches and molds many other characters and communities besides
his own. In all