Athletics and Football (extract)

38 ATHLETICS always proved his sincere respect for the rights of others and his unfeignedattachment to the Britishconstitution.' Be that, however,as it may, he certainlydeserves the thanks of modern athletes for his success in rendering athletic sports a popular pastime for gentlemen. There was,as is well known, no distinction in his time between professionalsand amateurs, and gentlemen made matches with each other and with pedes­ trians as they pleased,and wefind the great Barclayentering on a contest of endurance with Abraham Wood, and running him 'off his legs.' But throughout the first five-and-twenty years of the present century the ball which Barclay had started was kept rolling by plenty of successors; indeed, up to about 1825 so many amateurs made matches at Newmarket,or on the Uxbridge Road, or at Lord's Cricket Ground, and so much interest was displayed by spectators in these contests, that it seems wonderful that the system of athletic meetings for amateurs should not have arisen half a century earlier than was actuallythe case, though, as wehave already stated, there is some evidence that there wereregular meetingsat Sandhurst early in the century. Afterabout 1825, however,the popularity of foot races amongst amateurs appears to havewaned, and we hear of few gentlemen engaging in matches. We believe, neverthe­ less, that of the amateur generation of the earlypart of this cen­ tury there is still a survivor. The present Lord Tollemache, after running severalsprint faces, wasbackedby a friend to run any man in England over 100 yards. The challenge wasac­ cepted on behalf ofa Mr. MacNamara, and the match came off at the usual venue of Lord's Cricket Ground, Lord Tollemache again provinga winner. The late Mr. Horatio Ross, who only died recently, also distinguished himself in his early yearsas a walkerof long-distancematches. However,though there were fewer amateurs in the field, professional pedestrianism con­ tinued steadily to increase throughout the century, and wefind a regular succession of celebrated short-distanceand long-dis­ tance runners whochallenged and wrested championshipsfrom each other in the same manner as the champions of the ring.