n is
to be made by breaking the Point, and if the Part broken be of a grey
Colour, the Steel is good; if it be white 'tis not: Or you may strike
the Blade with a Key or other Piece of Iron, and if he gives a clear
Sound, there is no hidden Fault in it. In bending a Blade you must not
force it, what I have said being sufficient to know it by, and besides
by forcing it, it may be so weakened in some Part as to break when it
comes to be used.

It would not be amiss for a Man to see his Sword mounted, because the
Cutlers, to save themselves the Trouble of filing the inside of the
hilts and pommel, to make the Holes wider, often file the Tongue[1] of
the Blade too much, and fill up the Vacancies with Bits of Wood, by
which Means the Sword is not firm in the Hand, and the tongue being thin
and weak, is apt to break in Parrying or on a dry Beat, as has been
unhappily experienced. Care should also be taken that the End of the
Tongue be well riveted to the Extremity of the Pommel, lest the Grip
should fly off, which would be of very dangerous Consequence.

Some Men chuse strait Blades, others will have them bending a little
upwards or downwards; some like them to bend a little in the Fort, and
others in the Feeble, which is commonly called _le Tour de Breteur_, or
the Bullie's Blade. The Shell should be proportionable in Bigness to the
Blade, and of a Metal that will resist a Point, and the Handle fitted to
the Hand.

Some like square Handles, and others chuse round Ones; the square are
better and firmer in the Hand, but as this Difference depends on Fancy,
as does also the Bow, which in some Cases may preserve the Hand, but may
be a Hindrance in inclosing, I shall leave it to the Decision of the
Fashions.

CHAP. II.

_Of Guard._

By Guard, is meant such a Situation of all the Parts of the Body as
enables them to give their mutual Assistance to defend or attack. A
Guard cannot be perfect without a good and graceful Disposition,
proceeding from a natural Proportion of the Parts of the Body, and an
easy and vigorous Motion, which is to be acquired by Practice, and the
Instruction of a good Master.

[Illustration: Plate 1. The middling Guard.]

[Illustration: The straight Guard or flat Sword.]

As In all bodily Excercises, a good Air, Freedom, Vigour, and a just
Disposition of the Body and Limbs are necessary, so are they more
especially in Fencing, the least Disorder in this Case being of the
worst Consequence