sensibility. Yet
with Cowper,

'I would not enter on my list of friends
The man who needlessly sets foot upon a worm.'

If the leading objects of field sports were to procure sustenance, I
would not say a word. But the very term _sports_, implies something
different. And shall we sport with _life_--even that of the inferior
animals? That which we cannot give, shall we presumptuously dare to
take away, and as our only apology say, 'Am I not in sport?'

Besides, other amusements equally healthy, and if we are accustomed to
them, equally pleasant, and much more rational, can be substituted.
What they are, I have mentioned, at least in part. How a sensible man,
and especially a Christian, can hunt or fish, when he would not do it,
were it not for the pleasure he enjoys in the cruelty it
involves;--how, above all, a wise father can recommend it to his
children, or to others, I am utterly unable to conceive!

CHAPTER IV.

Improvement of the Mind.

SECTION I. _Habit of Observation._

'Your eyes open, your thoughts close, will go safe through the world,'
is a maxim which some have laid down; but it savors rather too much of
selfishness. 'You may learn from others all you can, but you are to
give them as little opportunity as possible for learning from you,'
seems to be the language, properly interpreted. Suppose every one took
the advice, and endeavored to keep his thoughts close, for fear he
should either be misunderstood, or thought wanting in wisdom; what
would become of the pleasures of conversation? Yet these make up a very
considerable item of the happiness of human life.

I have sometimes thought with Dr. Rush, that taciturnity, though often
regarded as a mark of wisdom, is rather the effect of a 'want of
ideas.' The doctor mentions the taciturnity of the American Indians as
a case in point. Even in civilized company, he believes that with one
or two exceptions, an indisposition to join in conversation 'in nine
cases out of ten, is a mark of stupidity,' and presently adds; 'Ideas,
whether acquired from books or by reflection, produce a _plethora_ in
the mind, which can only be relieved by depletion from the pen or
tongue.'

'Keep your eyes open,' however, is judicious advice. How many who have
the eyes of their body open, keep the eyes of the soul perpetually shut
up. 'Seeing, they see not.' Such persons, on arriving at the age of
three or four score, _may_ lay claim to superior wisdom on acc