Note 398 — Chapter XXIV · SWORD-PLAY AND OTHER SPORTS. GARDEN, ETC.
Reading edition
Mild athleticism seems to have obtained among a few of the upper middle class: for instance, Addison speaks[398] of the dumb-bell with which he used to practise every morning, and also of a kind of Indian club exercise, 'brandishing of two short Sticks grasped in each Hand, and loaden with Plugs of Lead at either End. This opens the Chest, exercises the Limbs, and gives a Man all the Pleasure of Boxing, without the Blows.'