"
And so he did. And Tom and the Slogger shook hands with great
satisfaction and mutual respect. And for the next year or two, whenever
fights were being talked of, the small boys who had been present shook
their heads wisely, saying, "Ah! but you should just have seen the fight
between Slogger Williams and Tom Brown!"
And now, boys all, three words before we quit the subject. I have put
in this chapter on fighting of malice prepense, partly because I want to
give you a true picture of what everyday school life was in my time, and
not a kid-glove and go-to-meeting-coat picture, and partly because of
the cant and twaddle that's talked of boxing and fighting with fists
nowadays. Even Thackeray has given in to it; and only a few weeks ago
there was some rampant stuff in the Times on the subject, in an article
on field sports.
Boys will quarrel, and when they quarrel will sometimes fight. Fighting
with fists is the natural and English way for English boys to settle
their quarrels. What substitute for it is there, or ever was there,
amongst any nation under the sun? What would you like to see take its
place?
Learn to box, then, as you learn to play cricket and football. Not one
of you will be the worse, but very much the better, for learning to box
well. Should you never have to use it in earnest, there's no exercise
in the world so good for the temper and for the muscles of the back and
legs.
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