enthusiasm only sees the good; if it does indeed see the bad the impression is transitory and soon passes off. When we get old our enthusiasm is tempered by judgment, and criticism makes its appearance; it is true that we note what is good, but we note what is bad also, and when this is realised, it can be seen at once that as far as the thing to be judged is considered, the conditions are so different that our judgment ought to be carefully weighed and balanced by the sifting of facts and figures.
Is the game of golf as played now easier than it was thirty or forty years ago, and are the players now better or worse than they were then? I cannot express a decided opinion; it seems to me probable that when the far larger number of players is taken into consideration, as well as the keen competition that is the inevitable result, the performances of Vardon in 1898 and 1899 must make a golfer of judicial mind give him the first place among golfers of all ages or times. But I have talked with several golfers of great experience and calm judgment, who say that they are quite unable to decide in their own minds whether, putting Vardon out of the question, young Tommy
