SOCIETY OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS. 307 



ing toil is never known; wiiere no attention is paid to even our 

 national holidays, and where picnics and pleasure excursions are 

 never spoken of. That such a ceaseless effort to create wealth hy 

 never ending labor should make the average intelligent and ambi- 

 tious boy a dull, rusty, uncouth and uninteresting specimen of 

 humanity, is not to be wondered at; and that their higher and 

 more refined natures should be overcome and finally crushed beyond 

 recovery, or revolt and break away from future restraint, is certainly 

 not strange; and where a boy shows a disposition to throw off this 

 tiresome yoke and rise to a position above that of a "hewer of wood 

 and a drawer of water," a tew mottoes hung around the walls of his 

 home, such as "Late to bed and early to rise," etc.; or, "He that 

 would thrive must rise at five," would have a great influent'e in 

 keeping his mind in the direction of solid labor. 



Huw great is the contrast and how much better the influence 

 of a home where some attention is paid to the social interests of the 

 younger members of the family — where a taste for music is culti- 

 vated, and where innocent games and amusements are encouraged, 

 and where an occasional day of recreation and rest is not consid- 

 ered lost, but of actual advantage to all participating in it. I have 

 in my mind at present a family consisting of the parents and nine 

 children, where the importance of honest industry and economy was 

 always inculcated by the parents, and yet where they believed in the 

 importance of combining these virtues with every opportunity for 

 well-earned rest and recreation. I believe that every one of the 

 seven boys belonged to some musical organization, which required 

 at least one evening of their time each week, and all the family were 

 members of some literary or other society for the improvement of 

 their minds. Living several miles from town, and having a rather 

 more commodious house than most of their neighbors, much of their 

 practicing was done at home, with the addition of a dozen or more 

 of their neighbors sons and daughters, many of them whose parents 

 did not see the importance of such nonsense, as they called it, and 

 could not endure the racket of horns and drums and other devices 

 for making a noise. Yet all these influences for interesting their 

 children and cultivating their higher and better natures were aided 

 and abetted by their parents; and among the noise and confusion, 

 incident to such occasions, they took a lively and pleasant interest, and 

 the result has been such as might well create a feeling of pride in 

 the heart of any parent. 



When the time came for them to leave home and enter upon life's 

 pursuits for themselves, they left with their parents blessing, and, 

 with the exception of one who has passed to the other world, they 

 are to-day filling honorable and useful positions in life, honored 

 and respected ]>y all who know them. In contrast with this, 1 might 

 mention other families where time spent for social and mental im- 

 provement was considered wasted, and where all the rest or recrea* 



