The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-04-24

specialist. He does not receive a smattering
of this and 1.-THE of that. but the mellow
results of ripened experience, of knowledge
that is assured"
RELIGIOUS SPIRIT
SIS the religious spirit among the stu
dents strong?"
Despite the assertions that are sometimes
made, my observation impresses me with
the fact that the undergraduate is not less
religious than he was. On the contrary, /
am inclinei to believe that the thoughts In
spired by a religious feeling and tendency
toward the things that are of religion and
exist in everyday life, is more pronounced.
/ should say that this is largely because OF
the atmosphere of the college. The environ
ment of the undergraduate at Princeton 10
naturally rather of that nature. Religious
duties are not forced upon them and moth
ing is done to make the truths Of that ma
tuYe disagreeable. The students all gather
in one chapel and attend the one service,
and / am free to say that they form very
appreciative congregation. They are young
men of intelligence and they give evidence
of it. think have never seen the time in
college life when the undergraduate was OF
so high standard, morally and physically,
as at present"
'Ts the physical development interfering
with the mental?'
cit should be borne in mind at all times
that the physical man should develop at an
equal pace with the mental. Therefore,
say see nothing harmful in college ath-
letics. AS a matter of fact, 1 believe ath-
letics to be of material benefit to the col
lege as well as the student. In way they
bring the institution more closely TO the at
tention of the rising generation Of boys
young men of from eighteen to twenty-five
are really boys, after all. What mean to
say is that the boy of twelve, thirteen,
fourteen, interested, as all boys are, in
football, baseball, rowing, ETC., takes deep
interest in the college sport, and IS he
grows older desire TO be a participant in
those sports strengthens within him. The
result of this is that, in addition to the de-
sire to secure the mental advantages re-
sulting from collegiate training, the boy
gets a further bent in the direction of coll
lege through his interest in athletics. In
consequence, the number of students is ma
terially increased, and I attribute a very
large increase in mental development to
primal interest in college sports. There will
naturally be a certain amount of roughness
attached to these sports. particularly foot
ball. We have only football and baseball
at Princeton, and so I speak more under
standingly of these. While there have been
accidents in the past, some of them very
unpleasant, looking at the matter from the
broad standpoint, see no reason why any
restriction should be imposed that did not
exist last year. I believe that both football
and baseball are beneficial to the college
man, and I do not believe that, as a rule,
it affects their standing in their studies
otherwise than advantageously. 1 mean by
that that a man who is studously inclined
is not hindered in his studies by athletics;
but L am aware that some who are inter-
ested in athletics would not, under any
circumstances. be devoted to study
Are any new restrictions of athletics in
contemplation at Princeton
There are none"
GEORGE GRANTHAM BAN.