Worcester morning daily spy. (Worcester, Mass.) 1888-1898, 1898-02-17

I ., 1t
ual good? Does the terrific strain and
/ excitement, the mental, physical, nerv-
| Gus strain Of these contests conduce to
any good results to the participants?
| On the contrary are they not, instead of
| being healthy or health-giving, distinct
! ly unhealthy, demoralzing, as well as
/ dangerous to health, life and limb? Are
! they not, in the judgment of any one
! who is informed, always attended by
! scenes and influences which no wise
man can see without deep misgivings?
| Let these questions be considered and
answered before l am asked to call these
athletic prize fights what members of
| the Yale faculty constantly call them,
| "the grandest exhibitions Of the true
Yale spirit" If one agrees with Judge
! Holmes, that war is desirable because
| by it the great soldierly virtues are
brought out; or if one thinks with Mr..
| Theodore Roosevelt that the roughness
! of these contests-and suppose the
rougher the better-is an essential ele-
ment of their value, then let such a one
stand by and applaud these intercollegi-
| ate contests as the last and best train
| ing for Intellectual and moral character
and greatness. But for myself, and by
| parity of reasoning, | should as soon
welcome famine and pestilence, snip
wreck, earthquakes and mine explosions,
| because these are always attended by
| the rarest exhibitions of heroism; or the
prize fights of our Corbetts and Fitz-
simmonses, Sullivans and Hyers, be-
| cause they show, in the words OF MI.
| Roosevelt, 1.-THE qualities of perseverz
ance, of logged resolution, of power, Of
| self-command and of the masterful spir-
| it," Non tall auxlio; non tall auXilio.
Not by such aids is any greatness won,
| except brute greatness; not by such
aids is character built up or the MASTER
| full spirit that wins true fame and glory
called out and developed.
| No. the truth is, athletics are good
| good in spite of the foolish uses and
| sometimes the base uses to which they
are put. Let them stand high in the
| training and discipline of college life;
| but let US, if we be reasonable beings,
stop this jargon and nonsense OF count
| ing Yale great because in annual attn
| letic scrimmages and fights, in annual
| athletics public shows and matches, she
wins the cheap fame of proWess and SUI
premacy. The honors we grant sala
| a great orator mark how high we
stand. and they educate the future.
The men we honor and the maXims we
| lay down in measuring our favorites
show the level and morals of the time.
| Let the honors we grant as college ana
university men mark our love OF let
ters, of art, of science, of statesman
ship, of moral heroism, of intellectual
greatness.
Ex-Gov Chamberlain also criticised
the English course at Yale, saying: L
first call attention to what l deem we'll
nigh a positive scandal--the neglect, the
low condition, the deliberate failure to
promote the proper study of English at
Yale today as well as for many years
past / should weary some audiences
by this word, for have spoken it more
than once before; but l have had no
chance yet to weary you. 1t passes my
comprehension how men who have
seats in the Yale corporation can
suffer this condition to continue. The
best solution of the mystery l can get
from others who are near the throne, is
that the members Of the corporation
are really puppets moved and only
| moved by the president This is not
| an agreeable word to speak in public,
but if it is true, it is time some one
| spoke it.
| The head of the English department
at Yale proclaims his opinion that there
should be no requirement whatever of
English in the Yale course. He further
| thinks, as do other Yale professors that
English cannot be taught, as an ordi-
nary study, at all. Whether he would
| have any requirement of English for en-
| trance to Yale / don't know. I don't
see why he should. That language,
therefore which is not only our vernac-
ular but is the sole speech Of some $780,
| 000, 900 of men all over the world, which
| bears a weight of literature of value un-
| paralleled in the worlds annals, is by
1.-THE judgment Of this man 10 be so placed
| that one may bear the credentials of
Yale University, and not know how to
| speak or write a sentence of his own
| tongue with decent accuracy!
| Tlt1f English tanghtf af Yale in sniff q
of Professor Beers All thanks for that
| But how is it taught? To say the best,
scantily, meagrely; and unnecessarily
| so! You all know there are two highly
endowed chairs of English a. Yale, wait
| ing to be filed, one for at least two or
three years! L fear truly they are now
as we'll filled as they will be when their
| titular occupants are finally, if ever,
named. The whole department counts
among it's professors or assistant pro-
| fessors but one man, one only, who is
a good teacher Of English, and this man
has been under what 1 might call dis
grace at the hands Of the powers that
be, and is understood to be now
watched with jealousy, lest he should
indeed popularize the study of English!
| Hence wilt thou lift up Olympus?"
seems to be the action, if not the speech,
of the Yale authorities to all entreatieS
| or circumstances, on this subject Well,
few of us have and will keep the sat
| isfaction of knowing we have done our
duty, publicly and privately in this be-
half. Baffled, if not spurned, we re-
main of the same mind, and we await
the better day,-day of freedom from
some sinister influence that binds good
men today, day when independence
| shall mark even a Yale corporator, day
| when sense of obligation to donors as
we'll as of duty to the university, shall
again govern in the Yale corporation
i day when the English tongue shall be
honored above all other studies at our
| Alma Mater.
| Col Samuel E. Winslow followed ex-
Gov. Chamberlain, and took the oppor-
tunity offered to differ with some of
| Gov Chamberlains views on athletics
| Col. Winslow's toast was THE athletic
relations between Yale and Harvard .
He said, in part:
This athletic business, I think, has
been carried a little too far as has been
very apparent to those who have fol-
| lowed athletics closely during the past
- years. Undoubtedly the game of
foot ball as it was played u years ago
would fit Gov. Chamberlain's descrip-
| ton. But a revolution has come, and
we find the spirit that predominates to
| be far different from that Of u years
ago The game is now for the develop
ment Of health and strength along fair
| lines.
The question of immortality among
! young men is one that has attracted a
| great deal of attention. The Develop
n1ent Of athletics in our colleges has
| done more to wipe out general immoral
| tendencies than any other thing. The
athlete is held up by a higher sense, of
| honor than any other citizen. The
athlete who breaks training brings him
/ self into greater disgrace than any other
| citizen. 1t is not true that athletes are