OVER-CONFIDENCE

It was Xerxes of Persia who caused a throne to be built for himself on the crest of the mountain overlooking Salamis so that he might enjoy the pageant of his conquest;--but it was a Grecian galley that carried the palm of victory back to the "wooden walls" of the Poloponnesus.

Since the football team's victory over Valparaiso, there has been prevalent around Harvard Square the temptation to build a Xerxes' throne of our own on the seats of the Bowl at New Haven. The general feeling of confidence with which we began the season has increased many-fold; and with this increase we are drawing every day nearer to the line of demarcation that separates confidence from the pride that "goeth before a fall."

Not that there is the slightest cause to be pessimistic concerning the powers and abilities of the team; very far from it. Any one who witnessed the much heralded East-West battle last Saturday cannot possibly help feeling jubilant over our prospects.

But over-confidence, relaxation, what Theodore Roosevelt called the "slackening of our moral fibre"--that is the thing we must avoid, if we would win games and championships. Whether the issue be territory or touchdowns, it is wiser to fight in the ranks than to watch from the mountain.