(2) The very ignorant must be amused. There are those
to whom nature is a sealed book. They are unable to appreciate
anything in science, literature, or history. They have abso-
lutely no wholesome interest in anything aside from the avoca-
tion at which they earn their bread. Frequently, too, that has
become hateful to them. I can understand that to such a



148 STUDIES IN MORAL SCIENCE

man some form of amusement might serve to keep him from
d)dng of dry rot.
(3) Some, but not all, of the above group will be included
also in our third class: the very lazy. There are those who live
an almost passive existence; who can scarcely be said to live:
they simply exist; some one has suggested that they only
vegetate. They only act as some strong, sensitive experience
thrills them. Perhaps they are responsible for being what
they are; but being what they are, and as they are, and while
they are as they are, we would not assail them on the amusement
side of their lives. The card table, the circus, and the dance
may have important functions to perform for them. Such is
the judgment of many settlement workers in our slums; men
and women who reach after a class of humanity lower than
General Booth's "submerged tenth."

(4) Another class is the very tired. What shall we do
when the head aches and the brain reels? The human soul
must not be kept continually in a state of tension. Such
persons must have a change of action. Amusement of some
sort may be useful for the very tired. It will be a mistake,
however, for such persons to push their quest for diversion to
such an extreme that brain and nerve are as tired as ever.
