Into the niceties of this game it is not proposed to enter; for though an excellent pastime, it cannot be described as football, and is simply a question of shoving. There used, however, to exist at Winchester College a practice not dissimilar. On Saturday evenings in the Christmas term, commonly called “short-half,” it was customary for the College boys to assemble in 7th chamber for the purpose of singing; after the singing was over, the prefects assembled, eighteen in number, in the doorway, which was exceeding cramped; opposite them the juniors, fifty-two in number, ranged themselves, and what was called a “down-hot” took place. Juniors tried to force their way out, the prefects tried to keep them in, and there was no mercy for him who fell. With the single exception that in a “down-hot” the formality of “delivering a ball in the midst,” as Strutt has it, was dispensed with, there were many features of similarity between it and the wall game. Lovers of football might well wish that, as in life they were similar, so in death they might not be divided. The “down-hot,” together with the College singing, has long gone the way of all flesh, and has been swept into the dustbin of the past by the broom of the reformer. It were a matter not much to be regretted that the wall game should also perish. The Eton field game, on the other hand, is a very fine game of football, and has been found to be an excellent training-ground for Association. Both in the forward and backward divisions old Etonians have been prominent; and nothing but the fact that personal references are contrary to our principles prevents an enumeration of well-known names. The same deference to principle has prevented the naming of Wykehamists who have been heroes in international contests, and will prohibit the mention of the names of the great players of Harrow, of Westminster, of Rugby, and of Charterhouse. The distinguishing points of the field game are pace, and, if the word may be used without offence, honesty. The ball, as in the wall game, is very small, being about the size of a toy football such as one buys for children. It is also exceedingly light, and will travel at a great pace; the result is, that from the moment when they begin to play Eton boys volley without hesitation, and when they reach man’s estate, can volley the Association ball incomparably better than the generality of men trained elsewhere. On the other hand, it is not, in our opinion, a good ball for men to play with. The full strength of a muscular leg, scientifically applied, drives the ball so far that there are periods at which either the game degenerates into an interchange of volleys between the backs (“behinds”), or the ball is occasionally kicked far beyond the reach of any player.