The American Boy 133 



he can do this or not, he must put his whole heart 

 into them. I do not believe in mischief-doing in 

 school hours, or in the kind of animal spirits that 

 results in making bad scholars; and I believe that 

 those boys who take part in rough, hard play out 

 side of school will not find any need for horse-play 

 in school. While they study they should study just 

 as hard as they play foot-ball in a match game. It 

 is wise to obey the homely old adage, "Work while 

 you work; play while you play." 



A boy needs both physical and moral courage. 

 Neither can take the place of the other. When boys 

 become men they will find out that there are some 

 soldiers very brave in the field who have proved 

 timid and worthless as politicians, and some politi 

 cians who show an entire readiness to take chances 

 and assume responsibilities in civil affairs, but who 

 lack the fighting edge when opposed to physical dan 

 ger. In each case, with the soldiers and politicians 

 alike, there is but half a virtue. The possession of 

 the courage of the soldier does not excuse the lack 

 of courage in the statesman and even less does the 

 possession of the courage of the statesman excuse 

 shrinking on the field of battle. Now, this is all 

 just as true of boys. A coward who will take a 

 blow without returning it is a contemptible crea 

 ture; but, after all, he is hardly as contemptible as 

 the boy who dares not stand up for what he deems 



