rawn battle, whether it
ended with the day, or was postponed for another trial. It
probably ended in the defeat of the younger party, for there were
more and mightier men among their opponents. Had we been
victorious, it would have behooved us, according to established
precedents, to challenge the Junior Class, which was not done.
Such a result, if it had taken place, could not fade from the
memory of the victors; while failure, on the contrary, being an
issue to be looked for, would soon be dismissed from the thoughts
of the vanquished. Instances had occurred of the triumph of the
Freshman Class, and one of them recent, when a challenge in due
form was sent to the Juniors, who, thinking the contest too
doubtful, wisely resolved to let the victors rejoice in their
laurels already won; and, declining to meet them in the gymnasium,
invited them to a sumptuous feast instead.

"Wrestling was, at an after period, I cannot say in what year,
superseded by football; a grovelling and inglorious game in
comparison. Wrestling is an art; success in the exercise depends
not on mere bodily strength. It had, at the time of which I have
spoken, its well-known and acknowledged technical rules, and any
violation of them, alleged against one who had prostrated his
adversary, became a matter of inquiry. If it was found that the
act was not achieved _secundum artem_, it was void, and might be
followed by another trial."--Vol. I. pp. 260, 261.

Remarks on this subject are continued in another part of the work
from which the above extract is made, and the story of Thomas
Mason is related, with a few variations from the generally
received version. "Wrestling," says Professor Willard, "was
reduced to an art, which had its technical terms for the movement
of the limbs, and the manner of using them adroitly, with the
skill acquired by practice in applying muscular force at the right
time and in the right degree. Success in the art, therefore,
depended partly on skill; and a violation of the rules of the
contest vitiated any apparent triumph gained by mere physical
strength. There were traditionary accounts of some of our
predecessors who were commemorated as among the coryphaei of
wrestlers; a renown that was not then looked upon with contempt.
The art of wrestling was not then confined to the literary
gymnasium. It was practised in every rustic village. There were
even migrating braves and Hectors, who, in their wanderings from
their places