Physical Culture in the Tropics. 299 
must fall. All good habits are stronger if persisted in than evil ones and I 
say without hesitation that the physical culturist though he may often commit 
indiscretions of diet, clothing, bathing, etc., will never allow himself to become 
the victim of vice in any shape orform. Life isa continual battle between good 
and evil. The mind is the arbiter between the heart and the body. If the 
heart desires evil the healthy mind decides in favour of good and the body 
which ought to be the servant of the mind acts accordingly ; Mens sana in 
corpore sano makes the ideal man, and as the mind controls the body so will 
the body control the mind. In healthy persons. persons of good moral standing 
vice can make no progress, but woe to the man or woman who allows vice to 
control the body for it can only end in destruction both moral and physical, 
The habit of exercise as denoted by physical culture means a daily mastery of 
the body with corresponding reflex action on the mind. It keeps men up to 
the mark, it encourages determination of purpose, conquers slackness and 
promotes the healthy quality of self-respect, for no one can fail to lift up his 
head amongst his fellow men who knows that his coat covers arms and shoulders 
and back that can give a good account of themselves in a tight corner or come 
to gallant assistance where needed. 
It is the strong man who is humble, the strong man who is kind and gentle 
and brave as a rule when courage and not bluff is indicated : it is in the strong 
man so often that the tender heart is found, the humble human expression of a 
God who is all powerful as well as all-loving. We cannot all be born strong 
and healthy and many of us have to fight against inherited taints and diseases ; 
but we can all hold up our heads fearlessly provided that we know hat we are 
trying to keep ourselves fit by moral and physical exercises which I have tried 
to prove in the limited space at my disposal are summed up in the term physi- 
cal culture. 
Tam fully aware that the subject is an unpopular one, also that the exigencies 
of space in a volume of this sort are particularly rigid in this case, but I “do 
not fear to sow because of the birds.”’ These are strenuous days it is true but 
that is ne reason why physical culture should assume the aspect of a solemn 
ritual any more than our meals. We want the man with forcible and amiable 
elements of character equally balanced, and rational physical culture has, it 
may be frankly asserted, a tendency to produce him. 
Before closing this article I cannot help screening my own opinions behind 
those of the great J apanese Reformer, Fukusawa. The Japanese we know as a 
tace are renowned for physical culture and endurance that a few years ago stood 
the severest test that a nation can be subjected to. Fukusawa says in his Moral 
Code amongst other things :—“ Taking care of the body and keeping it healthy 
is a duty incumbent on us all by reason of the rules that govern human exist- 
ence ; both body and mind must be kept in activity and in health and any- 
thing calculated to impair their health even in the least degree must be rigidly 
avoided.’’ 
To which let me add, in all humility, verbum sap. 
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