PHYSICAL CULTURE FOR CHILDREN
and is being done all the time. Daniel Webster said: "At nineteen I was tall, pale, slender, and all eyes." Well, he built up into quite a man, did he not? We will get a few details later on; also of one Caius Julius Cæsar; and of one Marcus Tullius Cicero.
In recent days of Rev. Dr. John A. Broadus—one of the most celebrated Baptist ministers in America, a scholar and a nobleman, the most popular man in Louisville; an evangelist in General Lee's army; one writer says:
"Dr. Broadus never had a strong physique. A year after he began his work in the seminary his health broke down completely, and he was forced to give up for a while. In fact his physicians notified him that he could never do brain work any more, but must satisfy himself with some light employment, as a clerk or copyist. But the spirit was strong enough to manage the body. By diligent care of himself, and by heroic physical training, he was enabled to extend a life of almost incessant toil nigh to the limit of threescore and ten; and was permitted to live and serve his countrymen long after his more stalwart companions had passed away.
"Physical exercise was to Dr. Broadus a necessity; and next to riding horseback, walking was his favorite mode of exercise. He sometimes took gymnastics, and always recommended athletic sports to his students. While at the University of Virginia he placed himself for a session under the direction of a foreigner who taught gymnastics. From this training he received remarkable benefit, his average in all-round physical development, according to the measurements of his teacher having been exactly doubled in one session of regular drill. In later life his opportunities for riding and driving were infrequent; and so he took along walk almost every day. For several years it has been my privilege to accompany Dr. Broadus quite often on his 'constitutionals.' And what a privilege it has been! In elbow-touch with the greatest man I have ever known, I have spent many happy hours roaming over the city of Louisville. We had several four-mile beats."
The following closing paragraph of one letter tells its own story:
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