62 PETER GUTHRIE TAIT 



4. But whoso plays the proper game, 



His ball who striketh true, 

 He findeth all clubs much the same ; 

 A goodly thing to do. 



MORAL. 



Bulgers, and Mashies, Presidents, 



Are for weak players made ; 

 As spectacles and crutches be 



For eyes and limbs decayed. G. H. 



Returning with the Professor to the club-house, we notice that the 

 golfers freely greet him, as he quietly retires to his accustomed seat, or 

 finds a companion for an afternoon game at billiards. In this community, 

 full of cosmopolitan elements, the great man walked humbly and was 

 accessible to everyone. On a doubtful morning no one started for a round 

 without asking him if an umbrella should form part of the caddie's 

 burden ; and his opinion was always backed against the barometer. 

 The Professor seldom addressed anyone, but of all the notables he was 

 the most easy of approach. No topic of conversation was foreign to his 

 interest ; and the more remote the subject from the beat of his scientific 

 enquiries the more were we astonished by the intimate manner in which 

 he threw himself into the discussion. On politics he held tremendous 

 views ; and his eye glistened as he read a slasher in the Saturday Review. 

 In his Edinburgh home he was not a club man, and I believe he refused 

 to join in any way in club life ; but in his holiday time he loved to 

 mingle with the golfers, and enjoyed greatly his billiards. Although not 

 a great player, his intimate knowledge of angles gave him a fine field for 

 amusement and experiment as he tried almost impossible cannons. To an 

 opponent who had indulged in a very forceful game, I remember him 

 remarking that the play had seemed to be a combination of bagatelle and 

 racquets. But these hours in the billiard room were for him, especially in 

 later days, sources of splendid recreation. 



Many great men have been drawn to St Andrews, and have gone in 

 and out of the Royal and Ancient Club ; but probably no man so great 

 has ever come so closely in touch with its members. We knew that he 

 knew the mysteries which our minds could not grasp ; but the man as he 

 walked among us put himself, almost with diffidence, on our level and 

 invited our opinion. We, who had not been his pupils, were thus able to 



