556 Ancient Games and Pastimes. 
essential to gain a notion of the characters of the principal 
actors in them, we must endeavour to picture them as living 
men and women, and, to find out the motives for their ac- 
tions ; we must consider the circumstances by which they 
were surrounded, the influences which were brought to bear 
upon them, and the people with whom they had to deal. 
If we study history in this way it will cease to be a mere 
series of dry facts, and will possess an interest which was 
wanting before, just as a mere sketch of the outlines of a 
landscape, though perfectly correct as far as it goes, differs 
from the finished picture with its beautiful contrasts of 
light and shade, of sky and foliage, so will our mental 
pictures of byegone events and byegone times differ from 
the sketches and outlines composed of names and dates 
that seemed so vague and meaningless. 
The study of ancient games and pastimes, may 
naturally be expected to throw considerable light upon 
history. If we look at the games of children we shall 
generally find that they present more or less lively 
images of the serious pursuits of their elders, for example, 
children delight to play at soldiers, and the more martial 
the age in which they live the more martial their games are 
likely to be. It is very important if we wish to gain an in- 
sight into the character of individuals, to study their fa- 
vourite amusements. In the business of life a person often 
acts from circumstances in a way quite opposed to his 
inclinations, the sanguinary tyrant performs actions appa- 
rently of the most extreme benevolence, the innocent young 
girl becomes an avenging fury, and strikes the death-blow 
of a Marat, but in hours of relaxation the true character of 
men is sure to show itself, and we find that the cruel delight 
in sports that inflict suffering or death, that the active and 
energetic love those that tax their muscles or their intellect, 
and that the slothful give the preference to those that involve 
theleast exertion. The degree of refinement and education 
to which a people have attained will be shown by their 
amusements; the cultivated will like games that exercise 
their intellectual faculties, whereas the rude will care only 
for those that require little or no skill and in which success 
depends upon chance or brute force. 
_ Asa nation is composed of individuals we may employ a 
similar method to discover its character; when we see a 
people thronging to the Amphitheatre to witness the 
mortal combats of gladiators with each other and with wild 
beasts, when we see beautiful and noble ladies destitute of 
