io2 Character and Success 



of man sneers at college sports because he does not 

 see their immediate effect for good in practical life. 

 Of course, if they are carried to an excessive degree, 

 they are altogether bad. It is a good thing for a 

 boy to have captained his school or college eleven, 

 but it is a very bad thing if, twenty years afterward, 

 all that can be said of him is that he has continued 

 to take an interest in foot-ball, base-ball, or boxing, 

 and has with him the memory that he was once 

 captain. A very acute observer has pointed out that, 

 not impossibly, excessive devotion to sports and 

 games has proved a serious detriment in the British 

 army, by leading the officers and even the men to 

 neglect the hard, practical work of their profession 

 for the sake of racing, foot-ball, base-ball, polo, and 

 tennis until they received a very rude awakening 

 at the hands of the Boers. Of course this means 

 merely that any healthy pursuit can be abused. The 

 student in a college who "crams" in order to stand 

 at the head of his class, and neglects his health and 

 stunts his development by working for high marks, 

 may do himself much damage ; but all that he proves 

 is that the abuse of study is wrong. The fact re 

 mains that the study itself is essential. So it is 

 with vigorous pastimes. If rowing or foot-ball or 

 base-ball is treated as the end of life by any consid 

 erable section of a community, then that commu 

 nity shows itself to be in an unhealthy condition. 



