Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/732

Rh 690 W E E W R E the chapel of Pembroke, the latter at the cost of Bishop Matthew Wren, his uncle. The western towers of West minster Abbey are usually attributed to Wren, but they were not carried out till 1735-45, many years after Wren s death, and there is no reason to think that his design was used. Wren (D.C.L. from 1660) was knighted in 1673, and was elected president of the Royal Society in 168 1. 1 He was in parliament for many years, representing Plympton from 1685, Windsor from 1689, and Weymouth from 1700. He occupied the post of surveyor of the royal works for fifty years, but by a shameful cabal was dis missed from this office a few years before his death. He died in 1723, and is buried under the choir of St Paul s; on a tablet over the inner north doorway is the well-known epitaph &quot;Si monumentum requiris, circumspice.&quot; Wren s genius as an artist is very difficult to estimate ; he lived at a most unhappy time, when architecture had sunk almost to its lowest point of degradation. If, how ever, we bear this in mind we must admit that he was an artist of very remarkable ability; his inventive genius no one can dispute. For further information the reader should consult the Parcntalia, published by Wren s grandson in 1750, an account of the Wren family and especially of Sir Christopher and his works ; also the two biographies of Wren by Elmes and Miss Phillimore ; Milman, Annals of St Paul s, 1868; and Longman, Three Cathedrals dedi cated to St Paul in London, 1873, pp. 77 sq. See also Clayton, Churches of Sir 0. Wren, 1848-49 ; Taylor, Towers and Steeples of Wren, London, 1881 ; and Kiven, City Churches, London, 1887, illustrated with fine etchings. In the library of All Souls at Oxford are preserved a large number of drawings by Wren, including the designs for almost all his chief works, and a fine series showing his various schemes for St Paul s Cathedral. ( J. H. M. ) WRESTLING AND BOXING. Wrestling is the art of forcing an antagonist to the ground without resorting to blows or kicks. It is a trial of strength and skill between two opponents standing face to face, who strive to throw one another. As a gymnastic exercise it was greatly encouraged among the ancient Greeks, and the highest honours and rewards were bestowed on the victors at the Olympic, Isthmian, Nemean, and other games (see GAMES). It was also cultivated by the Romans, though their tastes inclined to more savage and brutalizing exhibitions than that of wrestling. It was not unknown in Egypt and at Nineveh, as may be seen from the sculptures in the British Museum. At the same time it differed very much in its ancient form from the wrestling of to-day, the wrestlers of old being wont to compete almost if not quite nude, their bodies besmeared with oil or some other kind of grease by way of making their muscles supple ; but, as this practice rendered it very difficult to get fair hold of one another, the wrestlers were accustomed to use sand on their hands, or even to roll in the dust of the arena as a corrective. In their contests they took hold of each other by the arms, drew forward, pushed backward, used many con tortions of the body, interlocked their limbs, seized one another by the neck, throttled, lifted each other off the ground, and butted like rams, though the chief point of their art was to become master of their opponent s legs, when a fall was the immediate result. In England the pastime has been popular from an early period, more especially in the Middle Ages, for in 1222, in Henry III. s reign, it is on record that a wrestling match took place between the men of Westminster and the citizens of London in St Giles Fields, the latter winning easily. The return match was held at Westminster on Lammas day following, but was interrupted by the bailiff of West minster and his associates, who maltreated the Londoners and drove them into the city. At a later period Clerken- well was the usual trysting place. At one of the matches there in 1453 another riot occurred, and the lord mayor, 1 The Royal Society possesses a good portrait of Wren by Kneller. who usually attended these athletic carnivals, was again routed and driven within the city boundary. In those days the prize was sometimes a ram and sometimes a cock. The four English systems of wrestling include those of (1) Cornwall and Devon, (2) Lancashire, (3) Catch hold, first down to lose, and (4) Cumberland and Westmorland. The Cornwall and Devon men compete in strong loose linen jackets, catching hold above the waist or of any portion of the jacket. Kicking, which used to be a pro minent feature of the west-country style, is now forbidden, and the men wrestle in their stockinged feet. In order to be fairly thrown, two shoulders and one hip must be on the ground, or two hips and one shoulder, and a man must be thrown flat on his back before any other portion of his body touches the earth ere a decision can be given against him. Formerly each county wrestled under different rules, but the systems are now amalgamated and are classed as one and the same, In Lancashire the wrestlers compete in their stockinged feet, but are allowed to catch hold of any portion of the body. This is the most barbarous of all the English systems, and includes the objectionable battling on the ground which is the fatal characteristic of the French method. Tripping, however, is not forbidden, and a fall is sometimes secured without a resort to scrambling tactics, which is impossible under French rules. The &quot;catch hold, first down to lose&quot; style of wrestling is of recent origin and promises to become popular. The utmost simplicity distinguishes it. Ordi nary wrestling attire is worn, such as jersey, drawers or knickerbockers, and stockings. The men on closing must not grip lower than the waist, and the competitor who touches the ground first by any part of his body is the loser. This system is perhaps the fairest for all parties, as the competitors set to work on equal terms without that delay in getting into holds so frequent in north-country wrestling. The Cumberland and Westmorland system is probably the best and most scientific of all. On taking hold, the wrestlers stand up chest to chest, each placing his chin on his opponent s right shoulder and grasping him round the body, the right arm of each being under the left arm of the other, and each joins his hands behind his opponent. When both have got hold the play commences. Kicking is forbidden, and if one competitor lets go his hold before the other the decision is given against him. If both fall on the ground an undecided or dogfall, as it is termed they wrestle over again, but if one falls before the other his defeat is registered at once. This kind of wrestling is free from danger, and the German style much resembles it, but in the latter a competitor s hands are not required to remain locked behind his adver sary s back, as is the practice in the north of England. No catching hold of legs, thighs, or arms is allowed, but each man tries to throw his adversary by using the &quot; buttock,&quot; which consists of facing to the right, twisting so as to place the left hip under an opponent s middle, pulling him close, stooping forwards and lifting him off the ground, and throwing him ; or the &quot; crossbuttock,&quot; facing to the right about to such an extent as to turn the back to the adversary, and then proceeding as before ; or the &quot; back-hank,&quot; which consists in commencing as in the &quot; buttock,&quot; and then passing the left leg from inside round an antagonist s left leg, when by keeping a tight hold with the arms and pulling backwards the leverage supplied by the leg being inside usually secures the fall ; or the &quot; back heel,&quot; which consists in pulling an opponent towards one, putting the left heel behind his right heel, forcing his leg up forwards, and throwing him bodily backwards ; or the &quot; left leg hipe,&quot; which consists in lifting and swinging him round to the right, then striking the inside of his right thigh with the outside of the left thigh, by which he