Gens una restat

I am more strongly confirmed than ever in the belief that the time devoted to chess is literally frittered away. It is, to be sure, a most exhilarating sport, but it is only a sport; and it is not to be wondered at that such as have been passionately addicted to the charming pastime should one day ask themselves whether sober reason does not advise its utter dereliction. I have, for my own part, resolved not to be moved from my purpose of not engaging in chess hereafter. The few games that I have played here have been altogether private and sans façon. I never patronize the Café de la Régence; it is a low, and, to borrow a Gallicism, ill frequented establishment. Extract from a letter by Paul Charles Morphy to Daniel Willard Fiske, dated February 4, 1863, from Paris, France

Here is a drawing of Paul Charles Morphy wearing his broad Panama hat in London, 1859. Image courtesy of Chess.com.