“ACHIEVED HIS SELF-IMPOSED TASK.”
To my readers I commend Mr. Levy as an example of what pluck and perseverance will do when used to a rational end. For the benefit of those who may wish to follow in his footsteps, I will quote some advice from his own pen:—
“In gymnastics it is never too late to begin. There may be some who may want, like I did, to emulate the deeds of the strong men whom every age supplies; to them I would say, give yourself up to your favourite exercise as you would to music if you would excel in it. Athleticism is as jealous an accomplishment as any art you would acquire. Excel in it and you will find your reward in that rough physical vigour which the world has not ceased to admire. In order to gain it you will go through a course of training which will lay the impress of health on all you do. Instead of defying nature you will learn more readily to obey her, and your obedience will be gratefully, cheerfully accorded, for you will realise how magnificent it is to be strong yourself, and by your example and your deeds inspire others to dignify their physical powers.”
It would be difficult to say which ranks the higher in the estimation of modern boys—brain or muscle. Certain it is that in these days boys of “grit” feel a contemptuous pity for the youth who is “all head and no muscle.” Possibly most readers will admit that muscular and mental development should go together, and that modern athletics are the necessary adjunct of school life for the building up of a “sound mind in a sound body” (Mens sana in corpore sano).
Of the ancients it may be said that their faith was in “muscle.” Even old Homer, philosopher and poet, goes so far as to say, “There is no greater honour for a man during his life than that he should be accomplished in the use of his hands and feet.” It was the “man of muscle” who in ancient Greece received the highest honours and rewards; it was for him that breaches were made in the city walls that he might pass through in his triumphal march. It was he who was relieved from the payment of taxes, whose statue was erected at the public cost, and whose praise was sung by the poets.
In ancient days leaders and rulers were selected simply on account of their development of “muscle.” Hence we read of Caius Maximinus, who from the lowly position of herdsman, was raised to the dignity of a Roman Emperor on account of his physical strength. This Maximinus, it is said, could squeeze to powder the hardest stone with his fingers, and history tells us that on one occasion he “knocked down six men without drawing breath!” Those fingers of his must surely have been moved by muscles of iron, and his “biceps” must have appeared a veritable mountain! A consideration of the fact that Maximinus was upwards of eight feet in height renders these feats less surprising, but to most beef-eating British boys it will perhaps be a “staggerer” to learn that the mighty deeds of Maximinus were performed on a vegetable diet.
MILO OF CROTONA.