240 THE FOGY DAYS AND NOW ; 



conceited, for all too soon they will have their day of reckon- 

 ing; why should the rich and strong despise the poor and 

 weak, for their own day of helpless poverty is but postponed. 



What man with common sense, who will stop a moment and 

 think, can fail to conclude, from his own earthly observation, 

 that old Solomon was right, when he pronounced the fleeting 

 things of this earth all vanity. We must all leave the world 

 and its folly far behind us. 



A certain hard student in his youth, and an able jurist in 

 his maturity, is accredited with the saying, "That the next 

 best thing to religion is fun ;" and he was perhaps not far 

 wrong, though like the poet who wrote that incomparable song, 

 "Home, Sweet Home," and was said never to have had a home, 

 we have thought this jurist and student must have had large 

 imagination, for in his studious youth he had but little time 

 for fun, and under the arduous duties of the ermine, less time 

 for religion. 



I have thought that the man who loves his God and his fel- 

 low man, cannot be adverse to fun, harmless fun. Tying a tin 

 can to a dogs tail in wanton fun ; to fight dogs and chickens, is 

 cruel fun ; to profane the Sabbath with unrighteous merri- 

 ment, is sacreligious fun ; but to surprise suffering humanity 

 with acts of kindness, and with timely aid, is heavenly fun. 

 The frolics of the lamb and kitten, are innocent fun ; the birds, 

 when they flit so merrily among the green boughs and chirp 

 and sing, are having their fun ; nature itself clappeth her 

 hands for joy, and this is the kind of fun we mean. The 

 Prodigal's brother hated fun. 



The man who hopes for heaven ought to be merry, and the 

 merry man maketh his neighbor merry. A good, genuine^ 

 hearty laugh is the sign of a happy man. But there is a wan- 



