by north.  For the benefit, the moral and intellectual benefit of such people, it may be worth while to point out that the Anglo-Saxon has in these cases been defeated precisely by those competitors whom he has always regarded as being out of the running; by Latins, and by Latins of the most easy and unstrenuous type; not only by Frenchman, but by Belgians.  All this, I say, is worth telling to any intelligent person who believes in the haughty theory of Anglo-Saxon superiority.  But, then, no intelligent person does believe in the haughty theory of Anglo-Saxon superiority.  No quite genuine Englishman ever did believe in it.  And the genuine Englishman these defeats will in no respect dismay.

The genuine English patriot will know that the strength of England has never depended upon any of these things; that the glory of England has never had anything to do with them, except in the opinion of a large section of the rich and a loose section of the poor which copies the idleness of the rich.  These people will, of course, think too much of our failure, just as they thought too much of our success.  The typical Jingoes who have admired their countrymen too much for being conquerors will, doubtless, despise their countrymen too much for being conquered.  But the Englishman with any feeling for England will know that athletic failures do not prove that England is weak, any more than athletic successes proved that England was strong.  The truth is that athletics, like all other things, especially modern, are insanely individualistic.  The Englishmen who win sporting prizes are exceptional among Englishmen, for the simple reason that they are exceptional even among men.  English athletes represent England just about as much as Mr. Barnum’s freaks represent America.  There are so few of such people in the whole world that it is almost a toss-up whether they are found in this or that country.

If any one wants a simple proof of this, it is easy to find.  When the great English athletes are not exceptional Englishmen they are generally not Englishmen at all.  Nay, they are often representatives of races of which the average tone is specially incompatible with athletics.  For instance, the English are supposed to rule the natives of India in virtue of their superior hardiness, superior activity, superior health of body and mind.  The Hindus are supposed to be our subjects because they are less fond of action, less fond of openness and the open air.  In a word, less fond of cricket.  And, substantially, this is probably true, that the Indians are less fond of cricket.  All the same, if you ask among Englishmen for the very best cricket-player, you will find that he is an Indian.  Or, to take another case:  it is, broadly speaking, true that the Jews are, as a race, pacific, intellectual, indifferent to war, like the Indians, or, perhaps, contemptuous of war, like the Chinese:  nevertheless, of the very good prize-fighters, one or two have been Jews.