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ferent Breeds; varieties which are conftantly perpetuated 
in each climate, whether from the continued aftion of 
the fame caufes that produced them at firft, or from the 
attention that is paid in matching the individuals feleCted 
for propagation. 
At the head of this domeftic breed, fnould be placed 
that which is known by the name of game-cock, feleCted 
on account of its courage, in which point only it differs 
from the reft, and is in chief ufe for the favage fport 
of cock-fighting; a pradlice, we hope, now nearly exploded 
in England. It is always ufual, before the battle, fo to 
mutilate the plumage as to render the creature unknown 
to thofe who have feen it only in its perfeCt ftate. The 
intention of thus trimming the bird, as it is called, is 
both to render it lighter, and confequently more aCtive 
in itfelf, as well as to give lefs advantage of hold to its 
antagonift. Similar care is taken of the breed, as well as 
the after-feeding, by the promoters of this fport, as is 
done by the gentlemen of the turf in refpeCt to their 
running-horfes. 
According to Mr. Pegge, ( Archtsologia, vol. iii. No. 19.) 
the art of cock-fighting is referred to the Greeks. Jaco¬ 
bus Palmerius, a writer cited by Mr. Pegge, pretends 
that the traces of this diverfion may be difcovered 
among the barbarians of Afia, as early as the reign of 
Crcefus king of Lydia, 558 years before Chrift. But the 
learned antiquary apprehends, that the fadt to which this 
writer refers furniihes no evidence that quails, ufed 
among the ancients and moderns for fighting, as well as 
cocks, were fitted for the purpofe of amufement at fo 
early a period. Pliny, however, informs us, (N. H. 1. x. 
c. 21.) that at Pergamus, a city of Afia, there was an 
annual exhibition of cock-fighting. But we derive no 
information from his account, when or where this prac¬ 
tice commenced, or for what purpofe, whether civil or 
religious, it was introduced. The Dardanii, a people of 
Troas, had on their coins the reprefentation of two cocks 
fighting; but, as thefe coins are of a late date, the anti¬ 
quity of this fpecies of diverfion among the Dardanians 
cannot be inferred from them. Mr. Pegge fuggefts that, 
perhaps, it might have been introduced among them, 
and alfo at Pergamus, from Athens, where an annual 
feftival, under the title of AXinl^vovuiv aycvv, was inftituted 
by Themiftocles, after the conclufion of the Perfian war. 
When this famous general was leading the Athenian 
army againft thePerfians, he faw two cocks fighting, and 
took occafion from this circumftance to animate his 
troops by obferving to them ; “ Thefe animals fight not 
for the gods of their country, nor for the monuments of 
their anceftors, nor for glory, nor for freedom, nor for 
their children ; but for the fake of victory, and that one 
may not yield to the other;” and from this topic he in- 
fpirited the Athenians, and Themiftocles gained the 
victory. (AJlian, Var. Hift. ii. c. 28.) If we can excufe 
the barbarity of this inftitution, it may be confidered in 
home degree commendable in him, becaufe it was an 
a£t of gratitude to the benevolent deity that preheated 
him with an occafion of haranguing his foldiers with 
effect, and thus became a permanent encouragement to 
his nation. As to the barbarity of the inftitution, JElian 
remarks, that cruelty and every kind of debauchery were 
fo generally interwoven with the religious obfervances 
and ceremonies of thefe polite Athenians, that they 
would be but little ftiocked and offended by it on this 
account; or, however, not more fo than the more ignorant 
barbarians of the oppofite coaft of Afia, the Pergamenians 
and Dardanians. We may further obferve, that the cock, 
on account of his vigilance, was facred to Apollo, Mer¬ 
cury, and JEfculapius ; and for the fame quality, in 
conjunction with his magnanimous and daring fpirit, he 
was appropriated likewife to Mars. This was extremely 
appofite to the purpofe and intention of the “ SpeCtacu- 
lum,” or public ffiow, exhibited by Themiftocles; as 
thefe creatures, called by Columella rixofce aves, were 
fuppofed to be more addicted to fighting than any others. 
The fcene of engagement, however, or in modern phrafe, 
“ the pit,” was the theatre; and the fport lafted only one 
day. But others, as well as Themiftocles, have taken 
the advantage of the fight of cocks fighting, and deduced 
from this circumftance an argument for the incitement 
and encouragement of military valour: Socrates endea¬ 
vouring in the fame way to infpire Iphicrates with cour¬ 
age. (Diog. Laert. ii. 30.) Chryfippus alfo, in his book, 
De Juftitia, fays, “ our valour is raifed by the example 
of cocks.” Lucian likewife (de Gymnaf. ii. p. 295.) 
introduces Solon, the great Athenian legiflator, as ad- 
drefiing Anacharfis to the lame purpofe. Mufonius alfo, 
cited by Stobseus (Serm. 29), deduced the fame kind of 
inftrudtion from the battling of quails and cocks; and 
we are informed that the young men were obliged to 
attend the exhibitions of the theatre, in order to avail 
themfelves of this inftruCtion. It further appears, that 
the other Greeks, as well as the Athenians, held a good 
fighting breed of cocks in high eftimation, and often 
amufed themfelves with this diverfion. We learn from 
Pliny (ubi fupra) and Columella (viii. c. 2.) that the 
iflanders of Delos were great lovers of this fport; and 
Tanagra, a city of Bceotia, the ifle of Rhodes, Chalcis in 
Eubcea, and the country of Media, were famous for their 
generous and magnanimous race of cocks. The king¬ 
dom of Perfia was probably included in the laft, from 
whence this kind of poultry was firft: brought into Greece; 
and, if a judgment may be formed of the reft from the 
fowls of Rhodes and Media, the excellency of the broods 
at that time confifted in their weight and bulk, (as the 
fowls of that country were heavy and large,) and Inch as 
our fportfmen call “ fhake-bags” or “ turn-pokes,” At 
Alexandria, in Egypt, they had a breed of hens, called 
povoero^oi, which produced the belt fighting-cocks. Upon 
the whole, it fliould feem, that at firft cock-fighting was 
partly a religious and partly a political inftitution at 
Athens; and was there continued for the purpofe of 
cherifhing valour in the minds of their youth ; but it was 
afterwards perverted, both here and in other parts of 
Greece, to a common paftitne, without any moral, politi¬ 
cal, or religious, intention; as it is now praCtifed among us. 
The Romans, who were prone to imitate the Greeks, 
followed their example in this kind of diverfion, without 
any good or laudable motives. Signior Haym (cited by 
Mr. Pegge) thinks, that the Romans borrowed thepaftime 
from Dardanus in Afia; but it is needlefs to trace their 
derivation of it to fuch a diftance, more efpecially as it 
was generally followed in Greece, and was not introduced 
among the Romans at a very early period. From a 
paffage that occurs in Columella, it appears probable 
that the Romans did not commonly ufe the fport of cock- 
fighting in his time; and he moreover fpeaks of it in 
terms of ignominy, as an expenfive amufement, unbecom¬ 
ing the frugal houfeholder, and as often attended with 
the ruin of the perfons that purfued it. The Romans 
feem to have been more acquainted with quails as fighting- 
birds than with cocks. At length, however, they paired 
cocks, as well as quails, for fighting. The firft caufe of 
contention between the two brothers, Bafflanusand Gets, 
the fons of the emperor Septimius Severus, happened, 
according to Herodian, (iii §. 33.) in their youth, about 
the fighting of their quails and cocks ; and, as they had 
often accompanied their father into Greece, they had pro¬ 
bably fecit and learned this paftime there. It might 
naturally have been expeCted that, after the introduction 
of Chriftianity into the Roman empire, when the bloody 
fcenes of the amphitheatre were dilcarded, this barbarous 
and inhuman diverfion, which had a tendency towards 
cherifhing ferocity and implacability in the minds of 
men, would have been reflrrained and gradually annihi¬ 
lated. Befides, this paftime has been the bane and ruin 
of thoufands here, as well as of thofe lanijla avium, cock- 
feeders, mentioned by Columella, whofe patrimonial for¬ 
tunes were entirely diffipated and confumed by it. 
This fpecies of paftime was probably brought into 
England 
