Page:The American Democrat, James Fenimore Cooper, 1838.djvu/81

Rh the circle of sins, as it is to expose ourselves to temptations that experience has shown we are unable to resist.

The most obvious American prejudices, connected with morality, are the notions that prevail on the subject of mispending time. That time may be mispent is undeniable, and few are they who ought not to reproach themselves with this neglect, but the human mind needs relaxation and amusement, as well as the human body. These are to be sought in the different expedients of classes, each finding the most satisfaction in those indulgences that conform the nearest to their respective tastes. It is the proper duty of the legislator to endeavor to elevate these tastes, and not to prevent their indulgence. Those nations in which the cord of moral discipline, according to the dogmas of fanatics, has been drawn the tightest, usually exhibit the gravest scenes of depravity, on the part of those who break loose from restraints so ill judged and unnatural. On the other hand, the lower classes of society, in nations where amusements are tolerated, are commonly remarkable for possessing some of the tates that denote cultivation and refinement. Thus do we find in catholic countries, that the men who in protestant nations, would pass their leisure in the coarsest indulgences, frequent operas and theatrical representations, classes of amusements which, well conducted, may be made powerful auxiliaries of virtue, and which generally have a tendency to improve the tastes. It is to be remarked that these exhibitions themselves are usually less gross, and more intellectual in catholic, than in protestant countries, a result of this improvement in manners.

The condition of this country is peculiar, and requires greater exertions than common, in extricating the mind from prejudices. The intimate connexion