, 1907-02-23
A MAN Of HARVARD
TO MEN Of HARVARD

ing Harvard or any other college turn
out mollycoddles instead of vigorous
men, l may add that I do not in the
least object to a sport because it is
rough. Rowing, baseball, la crosse,
track and field games, hockey, foot
ball are all of them good. Moreover,
it is to my mint simple nonsense, a
mere confession of weakness, to de-
sire to abolish a game because ten
denotes show themselves, or practices
grow up, which prove that the game
ought to be reformed. Take football,
for instance.
Disbelieves in Abolition.
The preparatory schools are able to
keep football clean and to develop the
right spirit in the players without the
slightest necessity ever arising to so
much as consider the question OF abol-
ishing it. There is no excuse what
ever for colleges falling to show the
same capacity, and there is no real
need for considering the question of
the abolition of the game.
Should Stop Perversion.
If necessary, let the college authori-
ties interfere to stop any excess or
perversion, making their interference
as little oticious as possible, and yet
as rigorous as is necessary to achieve
the end. But there is no justification
for stopping a thoroughly manly sport
because 1t is sometimes abused, when
the experience of every good prepara-
tory school shows that the abuse is in
no shape necessarily attendant upon
the game.
Courage a Prime Necessity,
We can not afford to turn out of col.
lege men who shrink from physical
effort or from a little physical pain.
In any republic courage is a prime ne
cessity for the average citizen il he is
to be a good citizen; and he needs
physical courage no less than Moral
courage, the courage that dares as well
as the courage that endures, the cour-
age that will fight valiantly alike
against the foes of the soul n the
foes OF the body. Athletics are good,
especially in their rougher forms, be-
cause tiIov tend to develop such oour-
age. They are good also because they
encourage a true democratic spirit;
for in the athletic field the man must
be judged not with reference to outside
and accidental attributes, but to that
combination of bodily vigor n moral
quality which go to make up prowess.
Means And Not the End.
l trust I need not add that in de
Tending athletics l would not for n
moment be understood as excusing
would make It the end of life instead
of merely a means in life. 1t is first
class healthful play, and is useful as
such. But play is not business, and
it is a very poor business indeed for a
college man to learn nothing but sport
There are exceptional cases which l
W. NV ANNu ~ ohioiNAS pub aAe
ing these, l can not with sufficient en-
phasis say that when o get through
college o will do badly unless you
tlrn you attention to the serious Work
of life with a devotion which will rem
der it impossible for you to pay much
heed to sport in the way in which it Is
perfectly proper for you to pay heed
while in college.
Not to Interfere With Duty.
Play while you play and work while
you work; and though play is a mighty
good thing, remember that you had
better never play at all than to get in
to a condition of mind where you re-
gard play as the serious business OF
life, or where you permit it to hamper
and interfere with your doing your full
duty in the real work of the world.
To All College Men.
So much for what | have to say to
you purely as Harvard men. Now, a
word which applies to you merely as
it applies to all college men, to all
men in this country who nave receiv-
ed the benefits of a college education;
and what l have to say on this topic
can properly be said under the aus
pieces of your political club. You here
when you graduate will take up many
different kinds of work; but there is
one work in which all of you should
take part simply as good American cit
liens, and that is the work Of self-gov-
eminent.
Practical Part in Everyday Life.
Remember, in the first place, that to
take part in the work Of government
does not in the least NEAR Of necessity
to hold office. 1t means to take an in
telligent, disinterested and practical
part in the everyday duties of the av-
erage citizen, of the citizen who Is not
a faddist or a doctrinaire, but who
abhors corruption and dislikes inefiic-
iency; who wishes to see decent gov
eminent prevail at home, with genuine
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