Public Entertainments.

its own which requires special treatment , and we are not in a position to decide by any criterion except that of actual experience in each individual case . To properly exercise all the mental faculties , a great variety of occupations is requisite , business

matters themselves will employ most , but other means of exciting feelings of enjoyment and merriment , must be devisee ! to raise the soul above trivial depressive incidents , which if exerting an undue influence will very quickly injure the healthy tone ofthe mind . For those incitements to grief

and sad thoughts which tend to soften the feelings and maintain a suitable degree of sensitiveness , we need take no thought , nature in its ordinary course provides them in abundance . Absolute mental rest , such as is found in unbroken sleep , is not alone sufficient ; variety of

food is imperative ; for if a man devote his attention from morning till night , from getting up to lying doAvn , to but one train of thought , he will fall as it Avere into an endless groove , in Avhich he monotonously glides his course , but intersected by intervals of oblivionuntil he becomes a mere

ma-, chine , losing the brightest and noblest part of his manhood—his soul seems to live , in order that it may support the gross tenement in which it has its abocle .

From this Ave draw the conclusion that the leisure hours should be passed in some congenial occupation which at once elevates , diverts , ancl adorns tho mind , imparting to it that finish which distinguishes the refined from the \ mlgar , and constitutes one of the most agreeable qualifications

of Avhich any one can be possessed . The danger of public entertainments and diversions arises from their sonieAA'hat over-exciting character in many instances , and from concurrent circumstances not actually brought into play by them , but still unable or unlikelto exist without

y their collateral enticements ; hence , so closely has vice been brought into contact with pleasures of an innocent character , that the puritanical have been inclined to regard all popular amusements as sinful in themselves , or , if not that , as abetting Vice and inducing dissipation .

That entertainments of a public nature are necessary cannot be denied , no matter to what class of society they may be supposed to appertain ; total , or almost total change of scene and society is at times requisite , in order to reinvigorate the mind and inspire it with new ideasfor to an

-, ap preciable extent it may be observed , that the same scenery and the same conversational style will induce , Avhenever experienced , similar trains of thought and modes of reasoning , and to A'ary this it is necessay to mingle Avith strangers in strange places .

Among the Greeks and Romans relaxations were provided for the amusement ofthe populace in great variety , from the more refined down to those which Avere mere exhibitions of physical

Public Entertainments.

strength and skill ; amongst the former Avere the Epidanrian Games , amongst thelatter , contests with the cestus and with clubs ; of course , in these contests professionals were engaged , the . same as in the theatres at present , and the spectacle produced was the source of enjoyment .

No accomplishment has added so much to the elegance and useful effects of all kinds of spectacular and aural entertainments as music , the variety of emotions it is capable of creating rendering it in this Avay of infinite value , for it will raise the spirits when depressed , or entrance andtranquillise the soul when irritated .

The one great object to be gained from mental relaxation is the renovation due to the Avithdrawal for a time of the energies of the mind from the ordinary business of life , by exciting an intense interest in some passing topic This end is most successfully attained by dramatic performances

Avhen viewed in the right spirit . When , however , excess of such entertainment is indulged in , it becomes , like business , Avearisome and more injurious from the late hours occupied by it . The recent contests between theatres and music halls

SIIOAV hoAv attractive dramatic performances are , and how anxious the lessees of the former are to retain their monopoly ; but it also exhibits the existence of a tendency on the part of music hall proprietors to improve the style of their entertainments , in order to accommodate the more elevated

tastes ofthe people ; aud , although there are many points connected Avith these temples of Calliope Avhich are objectionable and deleterious to the moral health of the vising generation , yet they have ( perhaps , in the first instance , by meeting them half Avay ) attracted many from places of

much Averse repute to spend their leisure time in a manner tolerably innocent in itself . The style of music in these saloons certainly has very materially improved during- the last feAv years , and , in doing so , has sensibly elevated the tastes of the better-educated amongst the working

classes ; and it is most sincerely to be hoped that , in the course of one or two generations ( we cannot expect it in less ) , the IOAV class of comedy , devoid alike of real humour , wit , novelty , and music , Avill haA r e become obsolete , superseded by compositions Avhich tend at once to antise and refine the mind , and gradually impart more polish to the manners of those who listen to them .

Food For The Poor.

FOOD FOR THE POOR .

NOAV that Avinter is about setting in , Avith every prospect of its being a hard one , it behoves those AVIIO are philanthropically disposed to give some attention to the condition of the poorer classes during the ensuing few months . O _ _ t All the usual privations will of course be felt ,

being greater or less , according to the severity of the season and its duration ; but in addition to these a greater evil has to be contended with ,