Hampden Sydney College - Kaleidoscope Yearbook (Hampden Sydney, VA)

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lighted watches of the night? If by 'iboysi' Hampden-Sidney boys are meant, one might sooner expect the trees to leave their places in the forest, the rivers to turn back'- ward in their flow, or the headlong cataract to stand still in its course than to hear. that they had failed their comrades in the hour of defeat. No tribute more beautiful, no devotion more pure will be found in the annals of college history than that paid by the Hampden-Sidney student body of V909 to the home-coming team on such an oc- casion. 'lihe news had been received on the Hill and the players could only imagine the joyous greeting that would have been theirs had the victory been won. But as they rounded the bend at Kingsville late in the night, what was their surprise when yonder- on the campus was the welcoming light of a glorious blaze? Could it be true? Yes, the students had actually done it as though to prove that no defeat could chill the ardor of their interest or lessen the zeal of their devotion. On another occasion, when the returning team stepped off the train at Farmville well past the hour of midnight, what was there left for words when they found themselves surrounded by their loyal fellows, patted and caressed with all the eagerness and fondness that might have been called forth by some notable victory. Yes, the students had come all the way from the College, armed with their horns and drums and fifes, and in their determination to do homage to those who had fought their battle, they even ran the gauntlet of an irate local constab- ulary, which threatened to demolish their tuneful instruments and march them to a different tune to face the music before an offended magisterial dignity. The writer feeds no idle sentiment, betrays no unmanly secret when he here records that on one of these occasions there were those among the veterans of the battle-field who were moved to tears by such expressions of devotion and loyalty. Surely such a nobility and refinement of leeling were worth the purchase at any price! Of course we believe in the right sort of athletics at Hampden-Sidney, and in say- ing this the writer means to speak both advisedly and deliberately: he holds no brief for any side-line enthusiasts, nor do the purse-strings of liberal, if interested, financiers con- nect with his private office. All that is meant here is what has already been said be- fore, that there is a place for sound athletics in any sound educational system. ln his comprehensive educational programme that great man and educator, John Milton, allows, nay, prescribes a necessary, a proper place for athletics-the exercise, culture, and de- velopment of the body along with that of the mind and the heart. Young men come to Hampden-Sidney for a thorough education and it is the high privilege and responsibility of those in charge to see to it that, as far as possible, these young men grow up into the fullness of the stature of perfect manhood, physically, mentally, and morally. ll must not be understood, however, that we are running a college here simply for athletics or that athletics here is the power that runs the College. Students of the present session who have trod with the writer the high-ways of literature will remember how the satirist Swift, with his keen and poignant pen, chose to prick and excoriate certain of the fads and follies of his day run mad, and how forsooth he would have established special 24

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life, he applies and applies successfully the lesson learned in his school days, that the re- ward is to the faithful and the enduring. He appreciates more fully the great trut:h4 He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. Again, the ambition of the student is aroused. l-le strives to make the team, he works hard, he does his best, he wishes to prove his worth, to win his laurels, he is ashamed to be left behind,-and so he is stimulated to higher and better things. He learns not to be afraid. As he meets, tackles, or wrestles with his man, he discovers his own strength, learns to stand his ground, comes to be brave and courageous in the face of danger. But better yet, when he goes out with his team to do battle with the opposing team, he forgets himself as he remembers that he is entrusted with a high commission, that he has in his keeping the pride and glory and reputation of his Alma Mater. l-le learns that noble and ennobling lesson of unselfishness, devotion, and patriotism. He cares not if he is skinned and bruised and hurt if only he has worn well the colors and insignia of his cherished Mother, if he has been enabled to keep her banner from trailing in the dust of defeat, if he has been permitted to bring home to anxious and eager com- panions and friends the trophies of a victory brightly and honorably won. ls it a small thing, is it a boyish enthusiasm,-this devotion to Alma Mater, this pride in a football or baseball victory? Verily it is of such stuff that the leaders of armies, the true and devoted defenders of home and friends, the unselfish patriots who give themselves to the cause of freedom and native land, the benevolent and self-sacrificing servants of their fellow-men-it is of such fibre and spirit that the world's greatest servants and noblest citizens are made. Best of all, the true player learns how to be brave and manly in defeat, and thereq may be displayed a nobility in the midst of defeat that not even victory can know: for who of the world's illustrious men can answer to the nobility of that matchless leader in the 60's when surrounded by the overthrow of his people's cause? There is no disgrac.e in defeat if only honor be safe. And after all, the victory of the field is only an inci- dent,-but the qualities of true and noble manhood that have been developed there are lasting-yea, are everlasting. What makes for college spirit-esprit de corps-like the veteran team around which the students rally and for whose success they are knit together as one? If the team wins, the students forget their troubles and everything is brighter and they are de- termined that more victories shall come. ln sounds of happy, if not always well- modulated voice, they chant their paean of victory, and with the fires of their enthusiasm they light up the way for the home-coming team. As Horace of old, they rejoice with those that rejoice, and thus their hearts are drawn together in indissoluble bonds. Perchance victory has not been theirs, but by some strange accident has perched on the standards of the opposing team. Do the boys at home lose heart and go silently to their tents and leave their comrades uhomeward to plod their weary way in the un- 23

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colleges and institutions for the various classes of cranks tsometimes called specialistsj that they might give themselves exclusively to the culture of their several arts: schools for wits, schools for fops, schools for all after their several kind. And perhaps had he lived in these latter days, he might have been tempted to include schools for football and baseball men. But however fleet and swift of foot our men may be, we are no school here for the swift darts of ridicule and scorn to be hurled at us by the disapprov- ing pen of a public's disgust. As one has said, we are not yet become a school where a hall-back is regarded as more valuable than a sound head. It is our boast-and may it ever be-that we here exalt character and manhood above mere physical speed and endurance. What we would say, then, is that here at Hampden-Sidney we recognize and insist upon the proper relation of the several parts in our educational scheme to the one organic whole. The physical man is to be held in subjection to the mental, the moral. To the students we would say, Do not forget to subordinate your athletic interests to your other and higher interests and seek to gather from your athletic exercises strength and energy for all the various duties of your college life. Let there be a proper co- ordination, articulation. Bring from every sphere of your college activity something re- freshing, something helpful for every other sphere in which you may come to be occu- piedf' The best man on the athletic field ought to be the best man in the classroom: and in the same way the man who does faithful and efficient work as a student surely may be expected to bring a better head, clearer conscience, and a stronger heart to the assist- ance of his lungs and his heels. It will be seen, then, that athletics at Hampden-Sidney is designed to be not so much an end in itself as a means always to a better end. Accordingly the students are encouraged, year by year, to address themselves to this part of their college life with a becoming degree of interest and earnestness, and they in turn are quick to feel that they owe it both to the College, to their fellows, and to themselves to develop on the athletic field and in the gymnasium all the best things of which a manly form is capable. With such objects in view and with such a spirit engendered we need stay no longer to vindi- cate the cause of athletics in this ancient seat of learning, and it only remains to add that as we hope to conserve all the other interests of the College that have been en- trusted to our keeping, we shall likewise continue to foster and develop sane, wholesome, uplifting athletics at Hampden-Sidney. 25