Eton 4 1 



always fatal, but I never knew anyone who could defend 

 a fourth — even M'Turk himself could not do so. By 

 working on this system, the brain, knowing what it was 

 going to perform, could direct the hand with marvellous 

 rapidity. I combined the different attacks quite by chance, 

 as the fancy took me at the time, so that no opponent 

 could learn especially to guard against them. Each day 

 they would begin differently, and succeed each other 

 differently. I never forgot, however, at any time what 

 movement I had commenced with, or with what others I 

 had followed it up. To gain complete command of my wrist, 

 I pinned on the wall of my room a small piece of paper, 

 with a small circle, the size of half-a-crown, figured upon 

 it. I also had another piece of paper, with a very tiny 

 target on it. Every time I went into the room — perhaps 

 a dozen times a day — I took up a foil and practised feints 

 and rapid thrusts at the figure on the paper, till the point 

 of the foil never worked outside that small circle. Then 

 putting down the foil, I would take up my rifle and snap 

 six or eight times at the target, also doing a little position 

 drill. I was rewarded by winning the fencing, and by 

 being the best shot of the Eton team at Wimbledon, in the 

 Public Schools Competition. 



My teachers would never allow me to practise 

 " single-stick " for fear of spoiling my wrist for fencing ; 

 but my next brother, the late Mr. A. C. Meysey- 

 Thompson, Q.C., not having naturally quite so supple a 

 wrist, was allowed to practise both forms of " passage 

 of arms," and won the first prize in each, the year after 

 I won the fencing. 



There is a very peculiar game of football — played, 

 I believe, at Eton alone — called the "Wall Game," at 



