206 O^ SPORTS AND EXERCISES, 



order to Investigate some of the moral an(J political effcctft 

 of these popular sports and public games, which contri- 

 buted so largely in raising the G reeks and Romans to a 

 height of unparalleled grandeur, it will be necessary to 

 examine the foundation of a system, which, in some res- 

 pects, when freed from its worse abuses, particularly those 

 which the more ferocious character of Rome introduced, 

 may not illaudably nor unusefully be imitated by the most 

 civilized nations. 

 The ancient Though it may, perhaps, be admitted, that the dilFer- 



Gree s irect- ^^^^ -j^ ^j^^ state of knowledge and general policy,, in th» 



cd their sports ° ^ i j ■> 



to afford plea- ancicnt and modern world, will not admit of a close ap* 



sure and to proximation in the system of their public sports and 

 ffive ability and , . ^i . . , , ,. , ^ A, 



personal now- amusements; yet the principles to which the Greeks di- 



er. rccted their attention in controuling popular amusements 



deserve the limited imitation of every free and enlightened 

 people. For, their aim was to direct to innocent and 

 useful objects two of the most powerful principles of the 

 human breast; — the love of pleasure and the love of 

 action. Hence arose the institution of the * gymnastic 

 exercises, which formed the principal part of all the so- 

 lemn games. The gymnastic art consisted in the perform- 

 ance of bodily exercises calculated for defcHce, health and 

 The athletic diversion. That branch of these exercises, called thw 



tpprtsare prac- j^^JjIp^j^ or sportive, must be considered as coeval with 



tisedbyalina- - ^ . - . , rr«, /. 



tioAs. the formation oi society t. Ine live J gy ninic exercises, 



so 



* Lycon, according to Pliny, first instituted the gymnastic games 

 in Arcadia, whence they were extended throughout Greece and 

 successively contributed to the highest gratification of both the 

 • Greeks and Romans, in their private schools and public solemni- 

 ties, . 



They were performed in the Gymnasiumy where not only youth 

 Were instructed in these exercises, but also the philosophers taught 

 their different doctrines. — The Palaestra, which formed a part of the 

 building, was the school for the gymnic exercises. 



f In almost every island of the Great Pacific Ocean, we find a si- 

 milarity, more or less striking, in the athletic and warlike exercises 

 of the natives, with those practised In Greece. 



I These five exercises were called Pentathlum by the Greeks, 

 and Qui npcrtium by the Romans. They consisted of leaping, run- 

 ning, throwing the Discus, darting the javelin, and wrestling ; but 

 itstead of darting the ja.veli», others meation boxiug. The last ex- 

 ercise 



