THE BOOK OF THE SWORD LONDON: PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE AND PARLIAMENT STREET THE BOOK OF THE SWORD BY RICHARD F. BURTON MAÎTRE D’ARMES (BREVETÉ) [Illustration] _WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS_ London CHATTO AND WINDUS, PICCADILLY 1884 [_All rights reserved_] ‘He that hath no Sword (-knife = μάχαιρα), let him sell his garment and buy one.’ _St. Luke_ xxii. 36. ‘_Solo la spada vuol magnificarsi._’ (Nothing is high and awful save the Sword.) _Lod. della Vernaccia_, A.D. 1200. ‘But, above all, it is most conducive to the greatness of empire for a nation to profess the skill of arms as its principal glory and most honourable employ.’ BACON’S _Advancement of Learning_, viii. 3. ‘The voice of every people is the Sword That guards them, or the Sword that beats them down.’ TENNYSON’S _Harold_. +--------------------------------------------------+ | | | TO | | | | THE MEMORY | | | | OF | | | | MY OLD AND DEAR COLLEGE FRIEND | | | | ALFRED BATE RICHARDS | | | | WHO | | | | IN YEARS GONE BY | | | | ACCEPTED THE DEDICATION OF THESE PAGES | | | +--------------------------------------------------+ FOREWORD. ‘I wanted a book on the Sword, not a treatise on Carte and Tierce,’ said the Publisher, when, some years ago, my earliest manuscript was sent to him. It struck me then and there that the Publisher was right. Consequently the volume was re-written after a more general and less professional fashion.