MY BROTHER'S KEEPER
Letters from James Alexander (1804-1859)
to his younger brother, on the virtues and
vices, the duties and dangers of youth.
Bodily Exercise
My dear brother,
You are not to suppose, from my objections to certain amusements and games,
that there are no suitable recreations. Indeed, my difficulty in writing to
you this morning, is, that there are so many, I scarcely know where to
begin, or which to choose. There are amusements which are good for the body,
or the mind—or for both. Let us consider a few of these.
Healthful exercise is part of the duty of every
day. The divine Maker and Master of these bodies requires that we should
take good care of them. Young people engaged in study are liable to
illnesses which arise from lack of exercise. No day should pass, therefore,
without sufficient employment of the limbs and muscles. And those exercises
are best which give strength to the body, and at the same time give
recreation to the mind. If you amuse yourself without muscular action, you
will be puny and weak of limb. And if you take ever so much exercise without
delight, you will become dull and melancholy. Try to accomplish both ends at
once.
For example, riding on horseback is a noble
exercise for boys. It is one of the best means of preserving health. To
manage a spirited horse is quite an attainment for a young man; tending to
produce high cheerfulness and courage. In many ways which I cannot stop to
name, it may be very useful in your future life. And you will never be an
independent rider, unless you become such in your boyhood.
Walking may be used when one cannot ride. But walking
takes more time and often fatigues before it has sufficiently excited the
circulation, and revived the spirits. Neither can you survey so great a
variety of scenes on foot as on horseback. Let me own, however, that the
great Dr. Franklin considered walking the very best sort of exercise. It
should be pursued for at least two hours every day, by those who study much.
Pedestrian excursions are of great benefit. In this way hundreds of the
students at the German universities spend their vacations, sometimes
traveling over all Switzerland.
Whether you walk or ride, however, you should have a
companion; otherwise your thoughts will be apt still to busy themselves with
the books you have left. Try to have some object in view, in your walk or
ride. Visit a friend—seek out some natural curiosity—make yourself familiar
with every hill and valley, every nook and corner, of the whole township and
county. In process of time, extend your researches to your own State, and
then to other States. Or make collections in mineralogy and botany, that you
may be gaining science as well as health. Thus you will become a traveler,
and judicious travel is the most profitable, as it is certainly the most
agreeable of all recreations.
Swimming, rowing, and skating are manly sports, and
conducive to health when practiced with discretion. I say nothing about
trap-ball, cricket, and the like games of sports, because the only
danger is that you already do too much at them. They are all good, when used
at proper times, in proper places, and with proper care. But no one of them
conduces to any immediate benefit, beyond bodily exercise and amusement.
Not so with manual labor. This, after all, seems
to be the true recreation, especially for wintry days, when we have to keep
in the house. The Jews used to hold, that every lad, however rich, should he
bred to a trade. A little skill in carpentry is a grand accomplishment. How
often have I regretted that I had not gained it. I might now be independent
of the carpenter, when I need a new shelf, or when the leg of my table needs
to be mended. A turning lathe is used by some young friends of mine, with
great advantage. Every large school ought to have a good supply of tools,
and someone to give lessons to the boys. But even without other tools, you
may chop, saw, and split wood, or break up coal, or roll the gravel walks,
or ply the wheelbarrow. And when these things are done by boys in concert,
nothing can be more entertaining.
Gardening is so charming a recreation, so innocent,
healthful, and profitable, that I might spend a whole letter in writing
about it. Take my word for it, if you live to be a man, you will have a
peculiar satisfaction in looking at trees or shrubbery which you had put in
the earth many years before. And in our climate, where trees for shade are
so valuable, you cannot discharge your duty to society, if you do not
occasionally plant a maple, or oak, or an elm which may refresh your fellow
men when you shall have departed. I am the more earnest about this, because
I have to walk daily through a street, upon which the noontide sun pours his
beams, much to my discomfort. If I had set out trees twenty years ago, as I
might have done, how different would my walks be! Look at the shaded
promenade before the State House in Philadelphia, or Temple Street in New
Haven, or Bond Street in New York, or the Mall in Boston, and you will feel
the force of my advice. The cultivation of valuable fruit trees and plants
may be made a source of profit as well as of pleasure.
But I have filled my sheet of paper, and yet am not half
done with the subject. Adieu, my dear boy. But remember, in recreation, no
less than in labor—to keep a conscience void of offence towards God and
towards man.
Your affectionate brother,
James