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CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY.

Our neighbours on the other side of the English Channel have been
accused of calling us a "nation of shopkeepers." No doubt the definition
is not bad; and, so long as the goods supplied bear the hall-mark of
British integrity, there is nothing to be ashamed of in the appellation;
still, with all due deference, I think we might more appropriately be
called a nation of sportsmen.

There is not an English boy breathing at this moment who does not long
to be at some sport or game, and who has not his pet idea of the channel
into which he will guide his sporting proclivities when he is a man.
There are not many grown Englishmen who don't think they know something
about a horse, would not like to attend a good assault-at-arms, or who
are not pleased when they hear of their sons' prowess with the oar, the
bat, or the gloves.

I may be quite mistaken, but it always seems to me that the
well-brought-up little foreign boy is too unwholesomely good and gentle
to fight the battle of life. Still, such little boys _do_ grow up brave
and clever men, and they _do_, taken collectively, make splendid
soldiers.

Then, as to sports, foreigners seem to put too much pomp and
circumstance into their efforts in pursuit of game; the impedimenta and
general accoutrements are overdone; but here again I may be wrong.

Of one thing we may be quite sure, and that is that the majority of
Englishmen are devoted to sport of _some kind_. One of the prettiest
little compliments you can pay a man is to call him "a good old
sportsman."

When, in addition to the advantages of a national sport or collection of
national sports, such as boxing, sword exercises, wrestling, etc., you
recognize the possibility that the games you have been indulging in with
your friends in playful contests may at almost any moment be utilized
for defeating your enemies and possibly saving your life, you are forced
to the conclusion that there are some sports at least which can be
turned to practical account.

Unfortunately there are individuals, possibly in the small minority, who
regard anything like fighting as brutal or ungentlemanly. In a sense--a
very limited sense--they may be right, for, though our environment is
such that we can never rest in perfect security, it does seem hard that
we should have to be constantly on the alert to protect that which we
think is ours by right, and ours alone.

However this may be, let us be