246 AMUHEMEXTS. 



and unclouded forehead, middle-aged man has his 

 nascent doubts as to whetlier, after all, the game is 

 now really worth the candle. He finds it harder 

 and harder to tear liimself away from home ; tlie 

 attraction grows weaker and weaker, as the scien- 

 tific men wonld put it, while the resistance to he 

 overcome grows greater and greater with every 

 winter. A dance used, to be a delightful thing 

 indeed before one was married, and when one had. 

 a chance of meeting Amelia there for half an hour; 

 but, now that one sees Amelia every day from 

 morning to niglit, and goes to the dance only for 

 the sake of one's danghters, why, the amusement 

 of the thing is not somehow quite so apparent as 

 it used to be some twenty years ago ! 



On the other hand, maturer age undoubtedly 

 gives quite as much as it takes away, even in this 

 very matter of amusements. While we are young, 

 we go out of our way too much to get ourselves 

 amused ; we are always seeking out pleasure and 

 excitement, always tr^-ing to find some fresh op- 

 portunity of agreeable stimulation. Rut it is a 

 well known observation that the more directly we 

 aim at pleasure, the more does pleasure seem to 

 flit and evade us. She is a coquette, that flies if 

 you pursue, but coyly seeks you if you pay her 

 scant attention'. This is a truth that middle age 

 alone begins thoroughly to appreciate. The best 

 amusements are those that come of themselves, as 



