Rise of Foot Ball in England.

In their broad principles the Eton and Association games have no very material difference. But whereas in the latter the game is begun by a free "kick-off," and the ball, when it passes out of play, except behind the goal lines, is thrown in at will by a player of the side opposing him who kicked it out, in the former the game begins by a "bully" formed opposite the point where it passed out of play. On either side are a "post" and two "sides," with others to back them up. These form down opposite each other, alternately under and over as at "the wall," and the ball is placed between their feet. This bully is mostly but a momentary affair, and the ball, if not carried through by superior weight, is turned out almost at once to one of the "corners." Behind the bully stand the "flying man," the "long-behind," and the "goals," and sometimes a player is taken from the bully to act as "short behind." The game is a terribly fast one, as, except by the "behinds" no "cool kicking" is allowed; no player "up," that is to say, may kick the ball hard; he must "run it down," or "dribble it," as the phrase goes elsewhere than at Eton, keeping it as much between his feet as possible. To see a skilled player do this at top speed, winding in and out among his opponents, with the ball never more than a foot or two away from him, is a pretty sight, and it is prettier still to watch him "running it down the line" with all the players crowding round him on the watch for a "rouge;" as an enthusiastic Etonian has been heard to observe, "it is the poetry of football!" A "rouge" is won when the ball passes behind the goal lines, but not through the posts, and is touched first by one of the side which has forced it over. But the player who forces it over must at the moment be in immediate contact with one of his opponents; otherwise the ball is "cool," and is quietly kicked off into the middle of the ground by one of the side over whose lines it has passed, and the same thing happens when one of that side is the first to touch it behind the line. When a rouge has been claimed and allowed, an adjournment is made to the goal of that side against whom it has been given. A yard-the longest yard that youthful legs can stride-from the goal the stoutest player of that side takes his stand with the ball between his feet, the rest backing him up in various positions so as to form a solid wedge-shaped front to the foe.

Ranged in similar fashion the foe charges down on the ball, and then commences a struggle till the ball is either forced through the goal posts by one side, or carried by the other away from that dangerous vicinity back into the enemy's country. This is the roughest part of the Eton game, and is sometimes, no doubt, where the match is a keen one, as for the House Cup, very rough. While the game is confined to boys, however, no very great harm is likely to ensue, and, as a rule, the Eton game may, we think, be said to be less prolific of serious accident than any other; certainly far less so than the Rugbeian indiscriminate pulling and hauling and kicking, which have, indeed, been of late considerably modified by the rules of the Rugby Union. A goal outweighs any number of rouges; but where the Proportion of goals is equal, Victory remains with that side which claims the greatest number of rouges.

In any game of foot ball shins, of course, will suffer, and here and there a collarbone perchance will snap. But the very spirit of the Eton game lends itself less to hard kicking than do others. Skill more than brute force is required to run a ball down neatly from one end of the field to the other; the enemy has rather to be dexterously avoided than encountered and overthrown. Still it would be idle to pretend that foot ball is a delicate game, or one to be enjoyed without a fair share of hard blows. given and received. Given and received they were, in that consulship of Plancus which every man loves to talk of, with great equanimity and no complaint. It seems now. however, that this too, with so many other things, has been changed at Eton. Walking through the town the other day an old Etonian, who had known Plancus, observed in a shopwindow certain leg-guards, not unlike those worn by cricketers, but lighter and less hampering to the limbs. As was the case with Nell Cook on a certain memorable occasion, "fully filled his eyes," and he walked into the shop to ask if it were possible that Eton boys wore such things. "Well, sir," was the answer, "I think they don't like it known, but as a matter of fact they dol "