for a long time after, Figg was also a professional swordsman and quarter-staff player. His card read as follows:
JAMES FIGG,
Master of ye Noble Science of Defence on ye right hand in Oxford road near Adam & Eve court, teaches gentlemen ye use of ye small backsword and quarterstaff, at home and abroad.
But in Figg's day (1719-34) boxing had evidently not been reduced to any intelligent rules, though his cards professed to teach "defence scientifically." Figg himself was so famous for "stops and parries," that he is mentioned in the "Tatler," "Guardian" and "Craftsman," the foremost literary papers of the time. He is described by Capt. Godfrey, a famous patron of the athletes of his day, as "a matchless master." "There was a majesty shone in his countenance," says Godfrey, " and blazed in all his actions beyond all I ever saw. His right leg bold and firm, and his left, which could hardly ever be disturbed, gave him surprising advantage, and struck his adversary with despair and panic."
The "backsword" of Figg's time still remains
