New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1865-08-02
MANLY SPORTS.

.stling-matcheS OF gentle Greece, the beastly
eIsdiatOrial spectacles of butcherly Rome, the
tournaments of the era Of chivalry the bear
LnitingS of Merry England" which reused the
'g-ath of Hudbras, the sword cOmbats and
,udge- playing of more modern days, described
by. Thackeray in 1.-THE Virginians the days
when Figg was champion. Then came the
"fstc" contests chronicled by John Wilson
and patronized by the nobility and gentry. All
amusementS once in fashion die hard. In our
own time there is a little cock-fghting, occa-
sional dog fighting; nor is the killing of many
rats by one terrier, "the celebrated dog Billy"
or any other dog celebrated by some other name,
altogether an antquated pastime But it must
be admitted that these entertainments are not
much in vogue, and principally interest the
denizens of the beer-shops. BY some, what are
called d" field sports" are considered to be pre-
eminently "manly;" and some deem it manlier
TO shoot plover and snipe than to bring down
The slower-winged partrdges and quails, while
boys regard it as the hight of "manliness" to
murder the plump robins. To walk thousand
miles in thousand hours is doubtless virile
exploit, although we remember that woman
once undertook the feat in this city, and broke
down, either through fatigue or brandy.
In The TRIBUNE of the 29th ult. we chron-
risd prize-fght in Ohio, and boat.race in
Worcester between the boys of Harvard and
Yale. We cannot but think that these two
events fifty represent the extremes Of modern
amusements-the pleasure of blackguards and
DULLES, and the "sport" of gentlemen and
scholars. Why prize-fghting is always spoken
OF as manly" passes our comprehension. 1t
may be tigerish, it may be taurine it may be
unwomanly, bnt manly it certainly is not. Two
stout fellows, after much preliminary training,
after bringing their physical health to perfec-
ton, after exercising and sweating in blankets,
ard resolute abstinence from rum, after long
spaTing at a stuffed bag, meet by stealth
a. some place unknown to the po-
lice, to ruin the work Of weeks, to
knock out each Others bright eyes,
10 blue and blaeken each Others satin skins, to
break each others jaw-bones, to fatten each
others noses, to hammer each other out Of all
~ alliance Of fair humanity, into shapeless,
puppy, bleeding, palpitating masses of mere
butchers meat, or rather into meat which no
respectable butcher would disgrace his stall by
offering to sell-nto mere carbon, with just life
y ugh left in it to swear by, or rather for those
who have lost their bets to swear at And this
is manly sport This is an event important
enough to be telegraphed to the newspapers
People say-Christopher North used to say;
q" We'll, it is not very pleasant to look at, but
Il makes men brave and honorable, and 1t tends
to prevent the use of daggers and pistols in pri-
yste combat" Unfortunately, here it does
nothing of the kind The men who fight with
their fists in the ring are always the men who
carry their bludgeOns and bowie-kniyes and six
shooters into the combats Of the bar-room and
the brothel. If any dispute arise among the
spectators of these "manly" rencOnters, it is
ever settled by boxing but always by shooting
- stabbing. The stuff published in the sporting
journals about fair play, and "the rules Of the
z. r." and gallantry and championship, is all
the merest bosh in the world. Puglsm must
al ways have been brutal busness-it is now
Ii possible, more brutal than ever.
1t is a relief to turn from this british business
to the truly manly" encounter Of the boat
men; but the very full account which we have
already published Of it, renders extended com.
ment unnecessary The need Of physical exer-
oise by the student may be considered a modern
scovery. Within our own time it was thought
Their than else dishonorable for a literary man
exhibit the evidences of robust health. The
esident of College always quoted "SGna
, Ems IN Sano oorpOre" to the Freshmen, and there
/ responsibility ended. There were two
ways in which mld-minded student
could get exercise-he could take long
constitutional walks, or he could split and saw
wood. A walk taken for the mere purpose of
walking never did anybody much good. Espe-
eially if the brain were kept still at work solv
Ing mathematical problems, or scanning the
lines of Horace. Dyspepsia was the one men,
Der Of the four classes who never graduated.
The Halls resounded with the groans of one
universal stomach ache; many scholar who
sould give you accurately enough the Etymol
ogy Of "cbyme" could never by any POSSIBLE
ity keep his supply of that necessary fluid
pure; and the poor student by hard study Of
tne dinners Of the Greeks and Romans lost the
power of dgesting his own. This sad state of
affairs necessarily arrested the attention of the
faculties-Prof. Hitchcock, Prof Muzzy; other
Professors hogan "A mediate unon tho cnl.iact