Page images
PDF
EPUB

whether an individual may not be in such a degree proof against the attacks of temptation, as to stand in no peril from its advances; whether his virtue may not be so much confirmed, as to render harmless an occasional encounter with vice; whether he may not possess in such perfection the faculty of moral discrimination, as to be able accurately to separate the evil from the good, and his virtuous principles so fully in exercise, as promptly to choose the latter and reject the former. These inquiries are rendered both impertinent and useless. The position has been made secure, that on the whole the stage is injurious to society; that it is a moral engine of mischief; he, therefore, who acknowledges the obligation of benevolence, and who feels himself bound to consult, in his pursuits, the interests of his species, is reduced to the alternative, unless he oppose his principles to his practice, of either denying the preponderance of evil attending the stage, or withdrawing from it entirely his approbation and support.

56

CHAPTER III.

CARD-PLAYING.

Oh! the dear pleasures of the velvet plain,
The painted tablets dealt and dealt again;
Cards with what rapture, and the polished die,
The yawning chasm of indolence supply.

COWPER.

THERE are few persons, it is presumed, who would not admit the justness as well as the pungency of this satire. Cardplaying, for the most part, is so destitute of science, has involved in it so few intellectual qualities, and is altogether of so frivolous a character, that it must be matter of surprise, even with the votaries of the amusement themselves, if they have made it the subject of serious thought, that it should be capable of supplying any degree of pleasure to a rational mind. Its preva

lence, however, amongst all classes of society; the firm ground which it maintains amidst the fluctuations of taste and of fashion, and in spite of the contempt and ridicule with which it has been constantly assailed, render it sufficiently evident, that the amusement possesses intrinsic qualities of powerful interest and fascination.

Its advocate argues, that as a social amusement, card-playing is highly convenient. It serves as an agreeable pastime, unites the friendly circle, excludes conversation of an insipid, frivolous, or injurious character, and supplies the party with pleasing employment. Politeness has certainly no easy task to perform in the conduct of a mixed party. The social circle exhibits a great diversity of mental character, taste, habits, education and talent. In the absence of cards, how is it to be supplied with convenient and agreeable employment, such as will engage the attention of all, and render intercourse easy,

familiar, and pleasant? General conversation, under the restrictions which good manners must necessarily impose, cannot be long sustained with convenience and interest. To meet the circumstances of all, and to be generally interesting, the topics of conversation must be extremely limited and barren. The stores of a wellfurnished mind cannot be produced without manifest disadvantage; for this would destroy that mental equality which it is of the first importance to preserve. Conversation, if it is at all familiar and unrestrained, throws open the stores of the mind, elicits its powers, stimulates its efforts, and exhibits the degree of its culture and talents. The equality of metnal circumstance, which in appearance at least should be preserved in the social circle, would thereby be destroyed. All the care, which the most delicate sense of propriety could exert, would be insufficient to preserve a seeming level; invidious distinctions would be produced, and rendered obvious. In proportion to the freedom

and vivacity of conversation, the powers of thought, the stores of knowledge, the ebullitions of wit, and the creations of fancy, would be produced, and unavoidably brought into relationships of rivalry.

With a view to this inconvenience, cards have been introduced; and it must be admitted that, to a considerable extent, they accomplish their object. They afford an amusement of which, on equal terms, all can partake. The interesting and the insipid, the gay and the dull, the beautiful and the unattractive, merge their respective distinctions in the feelings of interest, which the amusement in common inspires. There is a provoking mixture of truth and satire in the remarks of Dr. Johnson on

this subject. "I cannot but suspect," says he, "that this odious fashion is produced by a conspiracy of the old, the ugly, and the ignorant, against the young and beautiful, the witty and the gay; as a contrivance to level all distinctions of nature and of art, and to confound the

« PreviousContinue »