"I have told you that we are asked to make an absolute distinction
between two schools of fencing. Obviously it is the new school that
is wrong, and, as I happen to belong to that school, you must give
me leave to defend it, or, at all events, to explain its tendencies
logically, theoretically, and practically."
"Take care, Sir," a voice was heard to remark, "those three words are
decidedly appalling."
"Don't be afraid," I answered, "they are not so formidable as they
seem at first sight. You will find that if we thresh out the general
principles, what I have to say presently will be much simplified and
easier to follow.
"You often hear men say: 'There is no pretty fencing nowadays. It has
relapsed into its primitive brutality.'
"Not at all," I should answer, "it has come back to its proper object.
For consider,--an exercise, an art which starts with the fundamental
idea of a fight between two men who are thirsting for each other's
blood, cannot be regarded as a mere amusement, or as an academical
study in civility and good manners. One might argue with some effect,
that to sacrifice the first essential principle of the art to superior
refinements, which were really too exclusive, was a risky game to play,
and that, sooner or later, the players were sure to discover that fact
to their cost. Now I should maintain that the revolution, which has
been brought about, is a clear advance, and only brutal, if you will
have it so, because it is the assertion of the brutal truth.
"With the exception of the few who have the ambition to make themselves
accomplished swordsmen, men you meet in the fencing room do not as a
rule come there to sit at the feet of the professor, and imbibe the
mystic lore of scientific theory which he expounds, but rather to be
drilled and disciplined in the practical use of the sword which he
holds in his hand.
"As a young man I was passionately fond of fencing; I worked at it
with enthusiasm; my diligence and devotion were untiring. Among my
contemporaries were several very strong amateurs, really skilful
swordsmen, experts worthy of the best days and most glorious traditions
of the sword. I am thinking of such men as Ambert, Caccia, Choquet,
Lord Seymour, the Marquis de l'Angle and others, a group of amateurs
well able to hold their own with the most skilful masters. I believe
that at that time, and I give you this as my sincere conviction,
fencing reached as high a level as at any period in its history.