OF ATHLETIC SPORTS. EDITED BY ERNEST BELL, M.A., TRIN. COLL. CAMB. VOLUME III. BOXING-WRESTLING-FENCING- WITH 117 ILLUSTRATIONS. LONDON: GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK STREET, PREFACE. In a sport-loving country like ours, it is needless to enlarge on the advantages to be derived from the encouragement of athletics. The love of enterprise and the restless physical vigour of the race, demanding an outlet, have long since made our love of athletic games a national characteristic. Both physically, as an antidote to the unnatural and sedentary lives which so many of us have to lead, and morally, as a means of cultivating the more manly qualities of endurance, pluck, and self-control, the pursuit of athletics must be acknowledged to be worthy of our encouragement, and there is probably no better safeguard for boys and young men against indulgence in vicious amusement than a healthy interest in outdoor games. The appearance of a new series of handbooks on the most important of our national sports does not therefore seem to demand any apology. It is indeed a matter of no small wonder, considering their recognized importance as a - means of education, that the literature on the subject has hitherto been so scanty. Except for one notable serieswhich, however, both from the treatment of the subjects and the price, appeals mostly to the veteran athlete and the moneyed class of readers-there has hitherto been no systematic attempt to supply any handbooks at all worthy of the subjects. :1 The object of this series, the different sections of which are appearing concurrently as separate volumes under the title "All-England Series," is to give in concise form, by writers whose eminence in their respective branches enables them to speak with authority, a clear description of each game, with practical instructions and hints, such as will be helpful both to the beginner and the more advanced player. In all cases where there is an authorized and accessible code of laws they have been given. It is sometimes urged that games must be learnt by practice, and not from books; but while it may be admitted. that theory without practice is of no use, it is equally true that practice, without proper guidance, is often worse than useless. Many a young player wastes countless hours in vain efforts to surmount some difficulty or attain some power, when a hint from one who has already gone through the same experiences might have put him on the right path at once, and averted the acquisition of a bad habit which it is afterwards impossible to overcome. With regard to the scope of the series, it may be mentioned that the original idea was to issue one volume, treating of the chief of our outdoor sports, as a companion volume to Bohn's well-known "Handbook of Games," which describes only indoor games. The promise of co-operation from two or three well-known authorities soon, however, suggested the idea of increasing the size of each section and also the number of games to be included, and the one volume has now grown into five, and it is hoped, before the series is pronounced complete, to add a sixth one, dealing with Riding and Driving. THE EDITOR. CONTENTS. BOXING. By R. G. ALLANSON-WINN, Inns of Court School of Arms, Winner of the Middle Weights, Cambridge, 1876-7;- Heavy Weights, 1877–8. With Prefatory Note by BAT MULLINS, WRESTLING. By WALTER ARMSTRONG (" Cross-buttocker"), late FENCING. By H. A. COLMORE DUNN, Barrister-at-Law, Inns of |