over all the dribbling clubs of the kingdom. At the present moment the popularity of the Association game, especially in the provinces, is enormous; and if the old governing body can stand firm amidst the troubles which are arising at the present day upon the vexed question of professionalism, its career of prosperity should be a long one. To return, however, to the history of the running and tackling form of the sport--the “Rugby game,” as it was called even in 1862. When the Association code forbade running with the ball, the Blackheath and Richmond Clubs, and the few other less important and scarcely permanent teams who played the running rules, naturally held aloof from the Associated clubs. In the meantime the number of permanent clubs who played Rugby rules began to multiply greatly. In 1863 the Civil Service Club, under these rules, was formed, and about the same time the Harlequins. In 1865 Ravenscourt Park was founded; in 1866 the Flamingoes in London, and several provincial clubs, including Liverpool; and between this time and 1870 the clubs playing the older game sprang up in large numbers all over the kingdom. Although there was a general similarity in all the rules played by the various clubs who admitted running and tackling into their game, the difficulty of arranging little disputes and differences of practice used to be very great, as all old players who had their day before the foundation of the Rugby Union in 1871 can testify. Disputes of any consequence were avoided by the universal adoption of the rule that every club played its own rules in home matches. It was evident, however, that a system like this could not last amidst the rapid spread of the game through the country, and in the autumn of 1870 negotiations commenced between members of the Blackheath and Richmond Clubs, which ended, in January, 1871, in the foundation of the Rugby Union. It is pleasing to note that the two governing bodies of football have never come into collision since their respective foundations. We venture to express a hope that the footballers of either game will ever continue to look upon skill in the other and rival game with admiration, and not with envy. TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: Italicized or underlined text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized. Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.