456 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



eases ; history abounds with examples of strong men dying of sheer 

 grief,* as well as of a great success giving to others a new lease of 

 life. Even hope can sustain the vital powers under severe trials ; the 

 appearance of a distant sail or a leeward coast has often restored the 

 strength of shipwrecked sailors who would have succumbed to another 

 hour of hopeless famine. A mere day-dream of a possible deliverance 

 from toil or captivity prolongs .the life of thousands who would not 

 survive an awakening to the realities of their situation. 



But " hope deferred " sickens the body as well as the soul ; and, 

 next to the happiness of a life whose labors are their own immediate 

 reward, is the confident anticipation of a period of compensating en- 

 joyments at the end of every day, of every week, and every year, or 

 part of a year. With a few playthings the youngsters of the nursery 

 will find 23astimes enough, though even the youngest should have some 

 corner of the house where they can feel quite at home ; but the neces- 

 sity of providing special times and modes of recreation begins with the 

 day when a child is delivered to the taskmaster, when its employ- 

 ment during any considerable part of the twenty- four hours becomes 

 laborious and compulsory. Children under ten should never be kept 

 at school for more than three consecutive hours, unless the variety of 

 the successive lessons forms itself a sort of recreation, as drawing after 

 grammar, or wi'iting alternating with "calisthenics" or vocal exer- 

 cises. If the principal meal of the day is taken at noon, the mid-day 

 recess should be extended to at least three hours ,; otherwise one hour 

 is more than sufficient, especially where the recess sports are diverting 

 enough to forget the schoolroom for a few minutes. The more com- 

 pletely a special train of thoughts can for a while be dismissed from 

 the mind, with the more profit can it afterward be resumed, for the 

 same reason that the successful practice of any bodily exercise requires 

 a periodical relaxation of the strained muscles. But, if the instinct of 

 rooks and savages can be trusted, the recreation-time, par excellence, is 

 the evening hour ; and with a little management young and old bond- 

 men of drudgery might consecrate the end of every day to health- 

 restoring sports. All schools ought to close at 4 p. m. ; and, till we 

 can enforce the eight-hours labor law, the societies for the prevention 

 of cruelty should liberate at least the younger factory-slaves two hours 

 before the sunset of a summer day, in order to give them a chance for 

 a few minutes' recreation between supper and bedtime. " Horas non 

 conto, nisi serenas " was the usual inscription of the Roman sun-dials, 

 but the Arabs of the desert count time by nights instead of days ; 

 and for us, too, sunset is the beginning of the most pleasant and most 

 play-inviting hour of the twenty-four ; the day's work is done, no fear 

 of interruption dam2:>s the merriment of the moment, and to the fatigue 



* E. g,, Isocrates, Kepler, Mchemet'Ali, Bajazet, Politianus, Columbus, Maupertuis, 

 Pitt, the two Napoleons, Nicholas I, Joseph II, Platen, Abd-el-Kader, Shamyl, Horace 

 Greeley. 



