ines cared for games. They were amusing to pass an
afternoon with, and because one had to have exercise, but that was all.

Gordon waited till near the end, then he got up.

"I must first congratulate everyone on the broadminded view they have
taken of this important question; and I think it is an infallible proof
that the days of athletic domination are ended. For, after all, is it
any wonder that clear-thinking men like A.C. Benson pull our system to
pieces, when we have to own that for the last twenty years at least the
only thing Public School boys have cared about is games? And with such
a belief they go out into life, to find the important posts seized by
men who have really worked. No one works at a Public School. People who
do are despised. If they happen to be good at games as well, they are
tolerated. It is a condemnation of the whole system. And, after all,
what are games? Merely a form of exercise; we have got to keep our
bodies healthy, because, as Mr Rudd so wisely put it, a healthy mind
means a healthy body. Games were invented because people wanted to enjoy
their exercise. We all enjoy games. I love cricket; but that does not
make me worship it. I like eating; but I don't make a god of a chocolate
eclair. We can like a thing without bowing down to it, and that's how we
have got to treat games. Some fool said 'the battle of Waterloo was won
on the playing fields of Eton'; and a fool he was, too. Games don't win
battles, but brains do, and brains aren't trained on the footer field.
It is time we realised that; and I think from the way the speaking has
gone to-night, the school is beginning to understand. Now is the chance
to show that you think so. There are no good athletes in the school
to-day, the Eleven's rotten and the Fifteen is worse. Men like Lovelace
major _were_ almost worth worshipping, because they were men; they made
athletics appear grand, because they were such glorious creatures
themselves; but there are none of that sort here now. We can see games
as they really are without any false mist of sentiment, and we can see
that for years we have been worshipping something utterly wrong."

Gordon's speech really made an impression. After all, he was a blood,
one of the best all-round athletes in the school, and if he thought like
that, there must be something in what so many people were saying.

The question was put to the vote, and was carried by an enormous
majority.

"The Bull" looked for