126 WINTER SKETCHES. 



blazing- logs in imagination as if we had partic- 

 ipated in their warmth. The winds are as cold 

 now on the banks of the Otsego, but the music 

 of the bells is not so merry, for fashion has 

 decreed a noiseless gliding over the snow, and 

 the cheerful fireside has given place to abom- 

 inable stoves, furnaces, and steam-heaters. 



In the early days of our history, winter 

 sports were more appreciated because there 

 was so little sport of any kind. The business 

 of life was serious. The minds of our fathers 

 were occupied mainly with the questions how 

 should they get a living in this life by works, 

 and how by faith they should make sure of a 

 life to come. Since their day, the struggle for 

 existence has become less arduous. Wealth, 

 bringing luxury, has poured in upon their de- 

 scendants ; the rough edges of religion have 

 been smoothed off; and shocking as the idea 

 would have been to their ancestors, men have 

 determined to get out of it all the enjoyment 

 which the world can afford. Some of the 

 morning newspapers find space for reports of 

 sermons on Monday, but on every other day 

 of the week their columns are filled with the 

 particulars of horse and yacht races, base-ball 

 and foot-ball games. These, for the most part, 



