Enough has now been written to prove that the game of football is, in name at least, of extreme antiquity, and to give a general idea of its characteristics in early times. But it may not be amiss to examine these latter in more detail. It is to be noted in the first place that there appear in early days to have been hardly any rules; but it is nevertheless possible to discover certain general characteristics. The main principle of the game appears to have been, that a ball should be driven from one place to another; but as to the means appropriate to its conveyance, there would seem to have been a great difference. The men of Perthshire never, by any chance, kicked the ball; the Southerners kicked, carried, and struck it with their hands or with sticks. But for any trace of what is now known as the Association game, in which almost the only method of propulsion of the ball allowed is by kicking with the feet, we look in vain in ancient times. It seems probable that such a game originated in schools, and was confined to them, until brought before the public as a pastime for men by school-boys from the great public foundations, who wished to continue their games after they had left school for the world. The real and substantial difference between the two games as at present played is, that in the Association game no collaring, and therefore no running with the ball, is allowed; so that it may be not unsafe to conjecture that the dribbling game was invented, or rather grew, in schools where young boys were not allowed to tear each others’ clothes and break each others’ bones in the intervals of school hours. But of the Association game we shall have more to say anon. We think we have said enough of the history of the game of football in the days preceding the Great Revolution and the Puritan supremacy. This was a period in which the star of athleticism waned to an exceeding paleness; and there is no question that those who appreciate the benefits of innocent enjoyment in exercise of the body, owe a deep debt of enmity to the Roundheads. With their politics, their religion, their love of independence, and with many other points good and bad in their character, we have no concern in the present work.