The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1869-08-27


To-day if any monster of the deep, angered
that all-subduing man should invade the bot
tom of Old Ocean, not content with harass-
ing the surface, and cherishing under his
scaly hide deep-seated resentment. would
take most exquisite revenge, he has only to
bring some disaster to the Atlantic cable, so
that that wire will not transmit the result of
the great contest between the Harvard and
Oxford boats on the Thames. So would he
cause howl of anguish to arise from whole
hemisphere, and the outraged dignity OF al
the fishy powers, Kingdoms and domlnlons to
indicated. Neptune, Preteus, Amphtrte
and all the other submarine dignitaries would
hold high carnival under the sea, and ten to
one would sit down to a champagne supper
at which there would be toasts and all befit-
ting festivities. The cable has brought us
many items of Importance, though it has been
more addicted to horse-racing and other
sporting matters than could be wished. 1t
has told US OF battles, ministerial crises'
Parliamentary debates and other events that
involved the fate of great nations. But it
must be confessed that not 1.-THE ofthe gener-
al interest was felt in hearing of one OF these
things that is excited in respect to the sue
cess of the Harvard four.
why is it? The whole affair is simply this:
Four gentlemen, presumably "nice young
men," undergraduates of Harvard College,
have become accomplished boatmen. 1t is
certain that they have muscle, but it is not
known whether they have brains. The same
is true of Patrick who carries hod. Boston
knows something of their mental calibre, no
doubt. but all the rest of the world is in pro-
found ignorance whether they can even con-
strue Latin sentence. Four other young
men of Oxford University have also distin-
guished themselves by their skilful handling
of the oar, but whether they write good
Greek and whether they are scholars as well
as rowers is unknown. To-day the two crews
are to see which can row the best from Put
ney to Mortlake, with the whole world look
ing at them. No principle of any kind is in
volved. The question is simply whether the
English or the American four have the best
physical development and have their powers
best trained. As for lis, on this side of the
Atlantic, we feel almost as if the honor of the
starry flag" were as much involved as it was
on the field of Gettysburg. At least the
furnishes preliminary to that great battle
were not reported with any more fullness of
detail than the trial trips of the Harvard
boats have been.
All this talk and worry over boat race at
time when it is supposed that the civilized
world has finally eliminated mere bodily
vigor from those elements of character that
make men or nations deserving of respect!-
at a time when mental and moral power is
supposed to be the sole criterion OF merit!
This boat race dispels the illusion. The body
obstinately refuses to be crowded out of no.
tice by its associate, the mind, and asserts its
consequence in the very seats of learning
where one would look, if anywhere, to see it
ignored. The intellectual battles, conducted
on paper by Seward on the one side and
Stanley and Clarendon on the other, concern
ing the Alabama claims, did not attract more
attention than the bold invasion of Britain
by the Harvard four So much importance is
attached to the result and the contest is re-
garded, foolishly no doubt, as so much test
of American and British prowesss, that,
if the Harvard boys should be soundly beaten
it may be doubted whether tomorrow we
should be guilty so ready to 60 to war with
England, upon occasion, as we otherwise
should.
1t is useless to speculate as to the result.
When the Harvard boys started, there were
certainly very few who anticipated that they
would win, but their prospects seem to have
improved since their arrival in England. To-
morrow we hope to tell our readers all about
the race. The Americans, in their anxiety
to make the match, have conceded so much
to their English cousins, besides crossing the
ocean to meet them. that if they press the
Oxfords hard, their friends at home will
hardly consider that they have met with
defeat,