The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-06-29

l
 work of the great masters.
 II is. l trust, unnecessary 10 say that
 l appreciate to the full the fact that the ] highest work of all will never be affected l one way or the other by any question or l compensation. And much of the work | which is really best for the nation must 1 from the very nature of things be non
 remuneratiye as compared with the work i of the ordinary industries and vacations. l Nor would 1t ever be possible or desirable
 that the rewards of transcendent success l in scholarship should even approximate
 from a monetary standpoint, the rewards I in other vacations. But it is also true l that the effect upon ambitious minds l can not but be had if as a people we l show our very slight regard for scholarly l achievement by making no provision at
 all for it's reward. The chief use of the l increased money value of the scholars s
 prize would be the index thereby af- forded of the respect in which it was
 popularly held. The American scientist, the American scholar, should have the chance at least of winning such prizes as are open to his successful brother in Ger many. England, or France. where the re- wards paid for first-class scholarly achievement are as much above those paid in this country as our rewards for
 hrst-class achievement in industry or law are above those paid abroad.
 But of course what counts infinitely more than any possible outside reward is the spirit of the worker himself. The prime need is to instll into the minds of the scholars themselves a true appre- I citation of real as distinguished from sham success. In productive scholarship, in the scholarship which adds by its work to the sum of substantial achievement l with which the countrly is to be credited, | it is only first-class work that counts. In
 this field the smallest amount of really hrst-class work Is worth all the second-
 class work that can possibly be pro- ] duced; and to have done such work is in itself the fullest and amplest reward to
 the man producing it. We outsiders l should according to our ability aid him I in every way to produce it. Yet all that
 we can do is but little compared to what | he himself can and must do. The splrll l of the scholar Is the vital factor in the l productive scholarship of the country
 So much for the frs4, function of the university, the sending forth of a small number of scholars of the highest rank who will do productive work of the first class. Now turn to the second, and
 what may be called the normal. function
 of the college, the function of turning
 out each year many hundreds of men
 who shall possess the trained intelligence, and especially the character, that will enable them to hold high the renown of
 this ancient seat of learning by doing use full service for the nation. It Is not my
 purpose to discuss at length what should be done in Harvard to produce the right spirit among tn emen who go out of Harvard. but rather to speak of what this spirit should be. Nor shall l speak of the exceptions, the men to whom col l lege life is a disadvantage. Randolph of 1 Roanoke he of the biting tongue, once remarked of an opponent that he remind 1 |. ,,, r1gat- If
 were almost worthless by nature, and be- came entirely so by cultivation' or ! course If in any individual university | training produces taste for refined ldle- l ness a distaste for sustained effort, a l barren intellectual arrogance, or sense
 of supercillous aloofness from the world l of real men who do the worlds real work then it has harmed that ndividual but 1 in such case there remains the abiding | comfort that he would not have amount l ed to much anyway. Neither college training nor anything else can do much 1 good to the man of weak fiber or to the
 man with a twist In his moral or in-
 tellectual makeup. But the average un-
 dergraduate has enough robustness of
 nature, enough capacity for enthusiasm
 and aspiration, to make 1t worth while l to turn to account the stuff that IS In him.
 There are howeevr. two points in the
 undergraduate life of Harvard about
 which 1 think we have a right to feel l some little concern. One Is the growth 1 of luxury in the university. l do not
 know whether anything we can say will i have much effect on this point, but just
 so far as the alumni have weight 1 hope 1 to see that weight felt in serious and sustained effort against the growing ten dency to luxury ur in favor Of all that | makes for democr conditions. One of |
 rest of us most delight to honor-Colonel Higginson-has given to our alma mater | the Harvard Union, than which no bet | ter gift, no gift meeting a more vital
 need, could have been given to the uni | versty It Is neither possible nor desir- I able to try to take away all social diff 1 ferences from the student life; but 1t Is | a good thing to show how uin,nportant | these differences are compared to the | differences of real achievement. and com pared also to the bonds which should unite together all the men who are in any
 degree capable of such real achievement bonds, moreover which should also knit
 these capable men to their brethren who
 need their help.
 The second point upon which I wish
 to speak is the matter of sport. Now
 l shall not be suspected of tendency | unduy to minimize the importance of | sport. ptiltNt utdItlly III SpoiNs believe in outdoor games. and l do not
 mind in the least that they are rough
 games. or that those who take part in
 them are occasionally injured. l have no l sympathy whatever with the overwrought | sentimentality which would keep a young | man In cotton wool. and I have a hearty contempt for him 4- he counts a broken | arm or collar bone as of serious con
 sequence. when balanced against the
 chance of showing that he possesses
 hardihood. physical address. and courage
 But when these injuries are inflicted by others either wantonly or of set design ! we are confronted by the question, not 1 of damage to one mans body, but of | damage to the other mans character Brutality in playing a game should
 awaken the heartiest and most plainly i shown contempt for the player guilty of 1t. especially if this brutality is coupled 1 with low cunning in committing it with | out getting caught by the umpire. l h, nc
 to see bot hgraduates and undergraduates
 opinion come to scorn such man as one guilty of base and ishonorable action. who l has no place in the regard of gallant
 and upright men.
 | It is a bad thing for any college man to grow to regard sport as the serious | business of life. It is a bad thing to per
 init sensationalsm and hysteria to shape
 the development of our sports. And final l ly 1t is much worse thing to permit
 college sport to become in any shape or
 way tainted by professionalism. or by so l ,lta af