AAA Coming of Age Dinner

on the table some very beautiful cups; almost without exception, not quite, because somehave been given since, but nearly allthose cups were obtained by the liberality of the followers of athletics themselves at the instance and by the request mofy friend,JOHNCHAMBERSw, ho went round and obtained them all . And I am very proudto know that we have itnhe room to-night the donors of five cups—Mr. THORNTON, Lord JERSEY, Mr. W.M. CHINNERV,Sir CHARLESLAWES and my friend Sir CLAUDE UE CRESPIGNV(applause). Well , now, gentlemen, what has been the effect of this movement commenced by the A.A.C. , followed on by the A.A.A. during the last five and thirty years? It has brought into public notice and popularised amateur athletics to an extent of which one who didnot know the history of the matter has no ideaY.ou young men do notknow the desolate, thebarren condition of things that existewdhen I came from College, or in the years 1864-5, before I left College ; andnow we know that throughout the length anbdreadth of the land athletic clubs exisItn. my opinion, the meetingsheld under the auspices ot the A.A.A. have done a great deal towards promoting those splendid games ofAssociation and Rugby Football ; they have done and had a great deal to do with the various cycling clubs. No doubt just now the worship of golf may, to a certain extent , be affecting some of our meetings, but there is ready to hand under the auspices of this Association, honest andgenuine associations which must be an attraction to young fellows who wish to keep themselves with soundminds and sound bodies. Gentlemen, Ihave so often preached from this text that I am not going to be tempted to make but one observation. All I say is this ; I only ask you to picture to yourselves a younfgellow coming to Londonand loving sport for sport 's sake, being able to run, or to jump, orto throw the hammer, or put the weight , or to take part ionther athletic sports, whatn enormous advan­ tage it is tohim to be able to join a club such as the London Athletic Club and tobe able to compete withthe clubs of Manchester and other great towns where athletiacssociations exist . And I beg leave to assert that in the present day when there is this competition for everything, when men have to live at such high pressure that they have nottime to think and look about them as in the days gone by, the opportunity ofmaking friends by these associations is ot incalculable value to young men. I speak for myself, and I am not a bad example of it (hear, hear). There are men sitting round this table who have been my intimate friends for five and twenty years, and whomI never should have known but for my connection with athletics. Therefore, Isay, an association of this kind, founded by honourable gentlemen, conductedupon honourable principles, and setting an example to other associations, is, in my opinion, able to confer untold good upon the community at large. Gentlemen, let us remember that at thbeottom of all this there is the true spirit of sports­ manship in the best sense of the word—(hear, hear),—sportsmanship which is not connected with money getting, not connected with betting or anything of that kind, but sportsmanship which enables a man to take his licking and congratulate the man who has beaten him,