dear nephew, must attend
to it in smaller matters.

I remain,
My dear Nephew,
Your affectionate Uncle.

FOOTNOTES:

[78:1] Mr. M. is imaginary.

LETTER VII.

AMUSEMENTS.

MY DEAR NEPHEW,

In a former letter I recommended to you certain modes of relaxation,
having some connection with intellectual improvement. You will, perhaps,
tell me that you want relaxation more entire and complete; that the
intellect requires perfect rest; that you must have _amusement_ in the
strict etymological sense of the word. You may be right. I have already
advised you to take sufficient time for _exercise_, and the exercise of
the body will generally give rest and refreshment to the mind.

In your choice of amusement, however--amusement, I mean, as combined
with exercise--you must have strict regard to economy, both of money and
of time. Do not think me an old woman, if I add, that regard for _both_
should keep you from any excessive bodily exertion, such as will unfit
you for study, or seriously affect your health. I am told that the
latter effect has of late, not unfrequently, been the result of over
fatigue in _rowing_; that many young men have died at an early age; that
others live on with all their powers debilitated, from having
overstrained their nerves, and their whole muscular system, in
boat-races. Rowing is in itself a salutary and delightful species of
exercise; and the facility of practising it, is one among the many
advantages of Oxford; but when carried to the excess which I have
alluded to, it is foolish and culpable.

I would have a young man regardless of danger, willing to risk limbs,
health, or life itself, for the benefit of his fellow-creatures. He
should, like Hamlet, "hold his life at a pin's fee," when any adequate
object is to be answered by putting it in jeopardy. But a man has _no
right_ to risk either his life or his limbs for a bravado, in mere idle
vanity and ostentation. Such wanton risk is cruelty to his parents and
friends, and a presumptuous tempting of Providence.

_Riding_, for riding's sake, must, with your finances, be out of the
question. The utmost that you ought to allow yourself, is a hack once or
twice a term, for some specific purpose--to visit a distant friend,
perhaps, or to see some interesting object lying beyond the range of a
walk. What I have said of riding, applies, with ten-fold force, to
hunting, which entails expense--(the hire of a hunter, the hire of a