210 Sportsmen Parsons in Peace and War 



have no right to interfere between another man and his wife." 

 Mr. Benton then invited him to take his coat off ; this he did 

 with a good deal of action to show how brave and strong he 

 was — a man of determination, in fact. The curate promptly 

 knocked him down ; the man got up expressing himself as 

 anxious to continue the fight, and was promptly knocked down 

 again ; asked if he would like some more, the man shame- 

 facedly replied in the negative. He was then invited to go and 

 drink a cup of tea with his opponent. 



The curate seems to have been lucky in his battles, for 

 although an experienced boxer, it is not unusual for experts to 

 meet with disaster when they try to fight roughs where 

 unconventional methods are sometimes adopted, such as 

 butting with the head and kicking ; but probably he had learnt 

 a thing or two with the Cape Mounted Police. On more than 

 one occasion he surprised some of those he met in the slums by 

 taking his coat off and inviting others to do the same. 



It was not long before he had many sincere admirers, for the 

 sporting spirit was strong in him and this attracted men who 

 liked to talk cricket, football, running, and boxing with him. 

 He held classes on all sorts of subjects for the amusement and 

 instruction of his neighbours. His boxing classes were in great 

 favour. I think it struck the men he had found it necessary to 

 knock down and teach a wholesome lesson, that it was very 

 sporting and decent of the parson to teach them the noble art 

 of self-defence ! 



While on his round visiting amongst the very poor one day 

 Mr. Benton came across a woman, very tired, at a washing-tub ; 

 he told her to rest awhile and mind the kiddies and he would 

 finish the washing for her. His coat was off and hung up, his 

 sleeves rolled back and the soap-suds flying, before the woman 

 realised what was taking place. 



Mr. Benton's knowledge of men and the seamy side oi life, 

 combined with his most earnest and eloquent preaching, made 

 him an ideal slum parson. The fire was burning fiercely in his 

 heart ; from an undisciplined, emotional scallawag he had 

 become an altruist, no longer so undisciplined, but still highly 

 emotional, longing to make up for his wasted years. For 

 instance, one day when he thought the collection in church had 

 not been worthy of the cause he had been preaching, he rushed 



