Athletics

HISTORICAL. 9 With theadvent of 1864 camewhat may be termed the active commencement of open amateur athleticism. The only hope for sport was to adopt ahigh basis to start with, and accordingly the gentleman-amateur came into vogue. A few modern writers who, if they had existed in those days, would most likely have been debarred by the gentle­ man-amateur clause from participating in the reformed sport, are still violently opposed to anything tending towards a return to the old amateur definition, although the path of to-day, in many quarters, sadly needs purifying. At first it was difficult to define an amateur, and the rough and ready demarcatal division was body versus brains, wages versus salary ; it being considered that a man who earned his wages by the physical labourof his body was, by reason of his employment, better fitted for athletics than one who secured his salary by his mental powers. The "gentleman" part of the clause, although "sour grapes" to numbers, was not only absolutely necessary, butproved the saviour of athleticism. But for confining athletics to the select side of society, the better class of men would not, they could not, under the then existing state of affairs, have gone in for sport, which would, therefore, never have reached its present high estate. As it was, the hardy pioneers of the new movement and their disciples hada rough time of it, andmet with but scant success or support. For some time Cambridge and Oxford had been flirting with each otherabout a suggested athletic union, or rather series of athletic contests, to take place about Boat-race time. At length preliminaries were arranged, and on Saturday, 5 March, 1864,at Christ Church Cricket Ground, Oxford, the first Inter-'Varsity Sports were held. This laid the foundation for a new era in athletics. To quote the Field (12March, 1864, p.174, col. 2), "When the Univer-