of his royal highness against all comers; denouncing the conspiracy against him, and exposing the misdeeds of his enemies. I am not now going to revive the question, nor give my opinion of the measure of weakness on one side, or falsehood on the other. Sorely did the duke prove the truth of the poet that "Our pleasant vices make instruments to scourge us" - as certainly and more severely than our crimes; but the appeal has been made from Philip drunk to Philip sober; and I believe that history will clear the accused from all the grosser stains with which party and malicious revenge laboured so fiercely to blacken his character. But be that as it may, the tide of popular resentment ran far too strong at the time to allow of any resistance. The outcry was too loud to admit of any other voice being heard; and though I shouted as vehemently as I could, it would be inconsistent with truth to assert that I succeeded, to any extent, in arresting or modifying the overwhelming current of condemnation and censure. On the contrary, I do not believe there is an instance of any journal sinking so rapidly in its circulation as the Post" did, in consequence of my able and spirited articles. In the course of a fortnight I reduced it by more hun dreds per diem than it would be expedient even now to state; for I am persuaded that the effects of my lucubrations were not only so potent, but so permanent, that the paper has not yet recovered its former condition. That the work cost me great toil and trouble is not to be disguised. I remained in the House of Commons every night during the whole debates. Thence I went to the office and did my best and worst for the next morning's publication, and then, generally about three o'clock in the morning, I walked from the Strand to Old Brompton, a fair three miles. One way and another, I had my mind engaged, and my pen in hand about I literally learnt to walk in my sleep, and could on my way home pick out the most convenient portions of the road to take a nap en passant. Thus, between sleeping and waking, a pint of mulled Madeira, and a bit of dry toast, reinvigorated me for the resumption of my task in three or four hours.' From the Morning Post' Mr. Jerdan found his way to the establishment of the Sun' newspaper, where he continued for some time. Here for the first time, if we except the brief and disastrous period of his editorship of the Aurora,' he was intrusted with the sole management of the newspaper. With amusing frankness he tells us of the brilliant anticipations he had formed of his future 'career; and for a time it seemed as if these anticipations were about to be realized. We may see in his case that the period had arrived when editors and newspaper writers were enabled to associate Iwith the statesmen whose conduct they undertook to defend, on terms of greater equality than in a former age. Mr. Jerdan had attached himself, in his capacity of political writer, to the fortunes of Mr. Canning; and it will be seen from the following extract that the great man admitted him to a large amount of familiarity and confidence. He says, in the opening of his second volume I had been slightly acquainted with Mr. Canning for some years previous to the date at which my first volume closed, but various circumstances, deeply gratifying to me, conspired about this time to advance this condition into an intimacy which has been the delight and pride of my life. 'My residence was close at hand, and every Sunday after church I was expected at Gloucester Lodge. If the weather was fine, we walked for an hour or two in the garden, if wet, we sat and conversed in the library. 'Under such circumstances, utter nineteen hours in the twenty-four, sincerity was a natural and certain and, let me say, the exertion was extraordinary. Towards the con result; and out of this grew our bond of union and friendship. It clusion it was so overpowering that might be chance or position which threw me in his way; but, however it happened, he entertained an idea that it was useful for a politician and a minister to learn as much as he could of the opinions of various classes of the community upon the measures of government and other subjects of interest to the country; and he was aware that I mixed much in the society of intelligent men of every description-literary, agricultural, mercantile, professional, busy, and idle. 'Founded on this was his desire to have such frank and candid colloquies with me; and which he nobly repaid me by equal unreserve and cordiality. Let any one imagine the happiness of this! I was flattered by the thought that I was rendering some service to the man I so dearly loved; and his communications to me in return exalted me into the consciousness of being one of the best-informed individuals in the empire. There were few things beyond the limits of cabinet secresy which were not freely confided to me.' Trouble was in store for the editor nevertheless trouble, not from without but from within. The 'Sun' was subject to that bane of newspaper property, a divided proprietary. One of the proprietors was Mr. John Taylor, a gentleman of some literary and strong theatrical tastes, the author of a once well-known, though, we fear, now more than half-forgotten farce, 'Monsieur Tonson.' Mr. Taylor kept his co-proprietors in such continual hot water that they at last agreed-so Jerdan represents it-to clothe him with despotic power as editor, and to give him a share in the property of the paper. This had hardly been accomplished, however, when the other proprietors sold their shares to Taylor, leaving Jerdan and him to fight out the battle between themselves. Under these circumstances Jerdan's conduct, even on his own showing, was about as unwise as could well be conceived. He says there was no conciliating his opponent--he certainly never tried. Taylor had from the first been opposed to Jordan's appointment; it seemed that he would afterwards have been content if he had been allowed to write in the newspaper now and then, and to have some voice in its management; but this Jerdan positively refused. Not content with making the printing office and the editor's room the scene of daily turmoil, they must needs call in the public as witness to these disputes. The battle was fought with great spirit both in verse and prose. On one day correspondents were informed that 'all communications for the "Sun," newspaper must in future be addressed to the sole editor and part proprietor, William Jerdan.' In a few days afterwards the bewildered correspondents were again informed that 'Mr. John Taylor, the chief and resident proprietor of the "Sun," requests that his friends will address all communications intended for insertion to him only at the office.' These bickerings went on for some time, and they culminated at last on a worthy occasion-the marriage of Lord Byron. Taylor, who was an admirer of the bard, inserted in the 'Sun' the following sonnet: SONNET. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD BYRON. 'Byron, whose spells imagination bind, And storm or smooth the ductile heart at will, Ah! since the muse can paint with equal skill, Each bold or softer trace of human kind, To worth and graces all who know admire, '(Signed) T.' 'I disliked,' says Jerdan, 'this indifferent composition, not only for its poetical demerits but for its bad taste, as I conceived, in meddling with private life, and its inconsistency in so highly eulogising, whilst pretending to advise an individual whose productions had been criticised in a different spirit in the same paper. That I did not act prudently in manifesting this sentiment, I am On a Soranet to Lord Byron in the 'SUN' of yesterday. 'Byron, whose spells imagination bind, Strange spells which turn the silly head at will, Ah! since thy muse can paint with equal skill, Thy Prince a Vice' or father most unkind; (Rapt in the glowing energy of mind,) Let not the plans of rage and faction still 'Whelm us with falsehood, or with rancour chill, For sure thou now may'st fitter subject find. And since the parish priest has joined thy fate To one thou must, since all who know admire, Led by thy nose, pray moderate thy hate, And tune to loyal themes thy shameful lyre; So may ye share on earth a safe estate, And not exalted in the air-expire. (Signed) W. J. EXTEMPORE, 'Poet Laureate.' Taylor, who was out of town when the parody appeared, returned in a highly-excited state, and inserted another notice to correspondents, abusing the editor for the mean advantage he had taken of him when his back was turned. By this time it seemed to the friends of both parties that if the quarrel went much further, it would end in the total ruin of both, and the destruction of the property in which they had an interest. The Chancery suits to which they had had recourse were withdrawn, and Jerdan was persuaded to sell his share, as he says, at a great loss. He then withdrew finally from newspaper work, and started the 'Literary Gazette,' the first weekly literary journal that had been attempted in the country. like every other Rugbeian, is an enthusiastic football player; we are very strong this year, and the Old Boys are to bring a mighty team. It will be a regular Rugby guerre des géants. We mean to win. Come and see us, old fellow.' I accepted the rather imperious invitation, and went to Rugby accordingly. Whether I did see the students win is another matter, which will appear hereafter. When I called a cab in the Strand next morning, and directed the driver to Euston Terminus, the street lamps were all burning, though it wanted but an hour of noon, and behind the wet glass of the shop windows dull red lights were dimly discernible. London was enveloped in a dense fog. Daybreak had, as far as the metropolis was concerned, been the merest farce, and, as the morning advanced, the fog had thickened, and got yellower, and more opaque. It was thick enough and damp enough to choke me, I thought, as I applied a vesuvian to my meerschaum, and began to smoke, as a preventive measure and very commendable proceeding under the circumstances, though the time was morning, and the place the Strand. What a charming day for football! I said, communing with myself, and retreating as far as possible into the rear of the hansom; but I knew they would play. I really believe the football players of the public schools would continue their game if, in the middle of a match, the heavens opened and sent down the schoolboytalked-of shower of 'cats and dogs.' The players would tuck up the sleeves of their bright-coloured jerseys, and proceed to declare, according to custom, that the scrummages were jollier than ever. Nothing in the way of weather short of a frost bones, is heeded. Rugbiensis would never have ceased to laugh at my effeminacy if I had stayed at home on account of fog and rain. I found the departure platform thronged with gentlemen whose destination was the same as my own. A large number of them held black bags in their hands, but no one would have suspected the bags of containing 'samples,' or their owners of representing houses in the City. They didn't look like commercials.' Not a bit. They were waiting for the train. Some were pacing up and down the platform; others congregated in little knots. All the talk was of football matches, past and to come. The black bags were stuffed with flannel garments, and their owners were members of that mighty team of 'Old Boys,' as my correspondent so unceremoniously designated the gentlemen who were to form one of the contending sides in the great match of Old v. Present Rugbeians. Daylight broke upon the train as we emerged from the last of the London cuttings. Those eligible carcases' of houses, which, somehow, are always to be seen in the remote suburbs through which the first mile or two of the London and North Western line runs, and which always appear to be in the same forlorn, windowless, skeleton condition, became distinctly visible, and behind, like a huge black mantle resting on the steeple tops, lay the dense fog which was turning London day into night. The prospect forward was sufficiently disagreeable. We were not yet in the open country. Rain was falling, and there were endless heaps of rubbish, and blocks of unfinished houses, and the sky was of a dull leaden colour. It was, in short, just that kind of day which, according to foreign writers, has an influence on the British mind that tends greatly to increase the returns of the Registrar-General, and add to the work of her Majesty's coroners. I put up the window, settled myself comfortably under my rug in the corner, and thought of-well, to be candid, I thought of a subject neither more nor less weighty and serious than the matter of this article. Football is a very ancient English game, which was for many years a very popular pastime of the people. It is a charming one, admitting of great skill and dexterity, and requiring equal agility and promptness of action. It is peculiarly adapted to our national character. How, then, does it happen, especially as we have no substitute for it, that it has fallen from a national game into the pastime only of a few aristocratic colleges and schools? The answer is not difficult to find. There have never been any general rules established for regulating the play. The effect of this has been to do very effectually what Edward III. failed to do with the aid of a royal edict, when he thought football and some other games were interfering too much with the practice of archery. Every football club either played without laws, or made its own. Individual players took whatever latitude they chose. They carried the ball, they kicked each other, they fought, and did that which was considered so reprehensible on the part of Mr. Heenan on a recent occasion, and nearly strangled one another. There was, in short, no end to the violence of the players in many districts, and the results were often very disastrous. Shrove Tuesday was the great football day in England. In some places the people who would not turn out to play were roughly treated, either in person or property. In others, before the game began the ball was carried from house to house, and money was demanded. There is no doubt that in many cases it was given because it was found to be cheaper and more convenient to give to the football In travelling through rural districts players than pay to the glaziers. early part of the present century, it was quite a common thing to find doors and windows barricaded up. Women had to stay at home, and travellers to avoid any place where the ball was. The sides were generally parish against parish, or, in cities, the men engaged in rival trades would contend against each other. The goals were frequently the parish churches or alehouses. The scenes at these contests led, in many cases, to the interference of the law, which ultimately stopped them. In others, the players seem to have wearied of the disputes and fights. It is It is thus that football has fallen into its present position. A great revival seems at hand now. still popular in some districts. The Sheffield 'grinders' are noted for their games at football; and it is practised in other localities. But wherever it exists, there is still the same want of unanimity in the laws, and there are such wide distinctions between the methods of play as render it quite impossible for a number of avowed football players from different schools, or different counties, to play together. Hence it is that the famous football players of Rugby, Eton, Harrow, Winchester, and other schools, never play against each other. They cannot do it. The Eton and Winchester games have something in common, and an attempt was made during the present season to arrange a match between the two colleges, but it was abandoned, on account of the differences. Wykehamists and Etonians, Rugbeians and Harrovians, cannot meet between the goal sticks in winter as they do upon the cricket ground in summer. The scholars are, nevertheless, much more enthusiastic partisans of football than of cricket. The universities play football a great deal, and have many grounds for it. Some of these are appropriated to the Rugby system, which is now the most popular of all; others to the Eton and Harrow games. They have no common game and common ground. They play matches only with players from their own on Shrove Tuesday, as late as the schools, parties of whom go to the |
