17<)

THE FANCY.

With a disposition little inclined to the violent,either in exercise or in amusement, I am some-times prevailed on to mix with the multitude,and am then generally carried along with theimpulse of feeling and curiosity excited by theoccasion. I have an aversion to all brutal sports(as they are called), yet I nevertheless make adistinction between those which are voluntary,and those which are inflicted: by the voluntary,I mean pugilistic combats, in contradistinction tothose imposed on animals, which, having no choiceof their own, are instigated by the will of otherswho have the power over them.

Having accepted the invitation of a friend towitness some of those trials of skill in the nobleart of self-defence, as practised at the FivesCourt, I prepared my mind for the expected no-