… frowned upon a practice which transgressed social boundaries, a sign for them of moral degeneracy. Edward Barry’s A Letter on the Practice of Boxing published in 1789 was one among many calls to ban pugilism during the revolutionary decade. Barry, a medical writer and one of the most influential preacher in London, wrote this letter in reaction to the increasing popularity of boxing and to oppose the arguments of amateurs who insisted that … in Race, Romanticism, and the Atlantic, ed. Paul Youngquist (Surrey: Ashgate 2013), pp. 213-235. 6 . Edward Barry, A Letter on the Practice of Boxing (London: A. Grant, 1789), p.28. A national and manly entertainment William Cobbett ‘In …