Studies from Life Author:Dinah Maria Mulock Craik Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: GOING OUT TO PLAY. Who that has lived to middle age, when to work has become the principal object of existence, does not look back with an amused interest, a ... more »half- melancholy wonder, on that season when "going out to play" was an acknowledged daily necessity; when we sallied forth with no pretence of duty or labour, neither to walk, nor ride, nor pay visits, nor do errands; bent on no definite scheme of action — going out simply and absolutely "to play?" And those Saturday afternoons — those glorious whole holidays — those delicious accidental half-hours, form the largest feature in our recollections now. Going out to play! It seems ludicrous to fancy ourselves ever doing such a thing — we, who have to tramp in and out of town on our daily business — and do it; or feel we are bound to pay a visit — and pay it; that it is our duty to take a constitutional walk — and we take it; to plan a pleasure- excursion — and we solemnly go through with it. But as for turning out of doors for a given space of time, to go nowhere and do nothing particular — what a ridiculous idea it has become! Only ,by a strong effort of mental transposition and retrogradation can we sympathise with a certain dear little soul of my acquaintance, who after being sedulously petted and entertained for a whole week by a houseful of benevolent grown-up people, said pathetically: "Me want to go out and play! Me want a 'ittle girl to play with me! Me should n't care if she was a 'ittle girl in rags!" In this play companionship is the great matter — companionship based on quite different grounds from that of later life. Except a few, endowed with that passionate adhesiveness which is sure to prove in after-life at once their blessing and their torment, children are seldom either unselfish or devoted i...« less