score as when the bowling itself, if it is only diverted from the line of a field adds as many runs to the score as the hardest hit; and it is but a small counterbalance to such drawbacks to be able to astonish the natives at country matches, as the reporter of the Morning Herald says Mr. Mynn did at Cambridge, till they said, as a sort of climax I suppose, "Oh, my! was n't that a ripper?" Yet even Mr. Mynn's average of wickets has, I believe, never equalled that of Lilly white and Hillyer; and even if it had, how absurd it would be for those who have not half his strength to aim at acquiring all his pace. Again, then, I say to the gentlemen, Practise bowling; but let it be round, and let it be slow, and it will not be long before your industry is rewarded with success; and you will be as the gentlemen of England ought to beat all points invincible.

"I'M LOOKING AT YOU!"

ENGRAVED BY J. SCOTT, FROM A PAINTING BY C. HANCOCK.

Tally-ho! "A fox for a hundred!" as John Corbet said when he mudlarked the Marquis at the voice of Old Trojan-there he goes, you see, under the hill there-creeping up to the enemy on as artful a plan as ever was tried by Sam Chifney, and getting himself in good tone for the first fine day we may honour him with a call.

Foxy's epicurean inclination certainly does play the very deuce with him. If now he would only be persuaded to confine himself to acorns, blackberries, and suchlike harmless and hermit-like refreshment; or even allowing him some of that range Æsop and the naturalists are so fond of doing, and throw in a few more substantial items-say from field-mice to shell-fish-if he could only be contented with something of this sort, we really believe he might quickly become one of the most popular personages in the country. We fancy, however, we hear him replying, as John Mytton did to the six-thousand a year proposition, that he wouldn't give a d―n to live upon it;" and so of course, in that case, when he does get into trouble he must fight his own way out. Perhaps, after all, it is better as it is, both in the matter of sport and the feeling with which you enter on it. Consider the first of these only, and just ask yourself with which you would be most likely to have most fun-a milk-and-water, vegetable diet, dreadfully-respectable gentleman, or the raking, strolling old sinner, who owns to being "out o' nights," and guilty of every crime in the Calendar, from egg-sucking to hen slaughter? For our own part, we do not think there can be two opinions about it, and so should choose a fox as we would a boy or a bull-terrier, on the full understanding if he is to make any figure in the world he must have some "devil” in him.

The English fox, then, does, as Mr. Hancock insinuates, like a little game when he can get it, or rather he lives almost entirely on it. In admitting this, though, we come across a provoking collision that has told more against his name, fame, and happiness than all his other vices put together. It is well known that he prizes the rabbit quite as much as the lord of the manor despises it, and on these conditions fox preserving would seem to be as easily accomplished as the greatest glutton for the chase could desire. But, like most great men's favours, it has been promised to more than one; and while the master is most happy to give the Fox-family permission to come over and kill his rabbits, the keeper contends they already belong to him. Here arises a jealousy instanter, for every bunny the fox catches the keeper loses, and so it comes to a toss-up with the latter, whether he shall take life for life, and so save the rabbits to lose his place, or go on losing the interest and keeping the capital. Still Plush frequently dare not venture so far as this, but works on to his point by returning a verdict against his opponent on all the mangled remains of hares, pheasants, or partridges he can find: martin-cats, pole-cats, and common cats; sheep-dogs, hawks, and hedgehogs, each prove an alibi, to fix it on the foxy-faced fellow in the fur coat.

In the present instance we are really afraid the charge might be made with too much truth and justice; for if ever there was a promise of "blood for supper," it is foreshadowed here. Mark how cosily and seemingly securely the whole covey are dropping down one after another, and then observe the unctious, stealthy, longing expression that envelops their neighbour, from the very "point of his snout to the tip of his tail," as the menagerie men have it. See, again, how the fortune of war has declared for him in locating every bird close under the hedgerow, and so sending him bang in the midst of them before they can possibly have "the office" as to his intentions. And yet what is it after all? A few brace of birds for an old friend who gets health and exercise in obtaining them, and is ready to give satisfaction at the very shortest notice. Had he, to be sure, ravished Dame Partlett's hen-roost, the secretary might have shown a black look or two in honouring Bold Reynard, Esq's., cheque for four couple and a half of fowls, three geese, and a turkey, sent in at prices say not more than five-and-twenty per cent. over the market average. We might have something to say on both sides then, but decidedly not, when it's the beast of the field or the bird of the air, which, according to the Douglas Jerrold school of logic, belong to whoever can catch them. For this once we undoubtedly support the argument, and so must assure the sufferers that so far from showing any pity, we should justify the attack on the principle of "finding having" and "killing no murder."

THE RESOURCES OF A COUNTRY GENTLEMAN.

BY CECIL.

The facilities for travelling afforded by railways have materially altered the habits of all to whom either a constant succession of amuse

ments or temporary recreations are available. In the first class may be enumerated those of independent fortunes; in the second those who, being engaged in professional or business transactions, are enabled to devote a certain portion of their time to such recreations as their taste may dictate or their leisure permit.

Railways have sprung into a state of maturity commensurate with the rapidity with which they transmit their passengers from one end of the kingdom to the other; and, without taxing the human constitution with bodily fatigue, a man may now proceed from one extremity of the seagirt island to the other in almost as short a space of time as it formerly required to take a trip to Brighton, and this without exacting from the pocket any extraordinary expense.

The country gentleman who could not conveniently, in the days of posting and coaching, extend his visit to a race beyond his own county or the adjacent ones, can now, by an equal appropriation of time and money, transfer his imperial person to a far distant meeting, whenever he may anticipate a gathering of interest and importance. Race meetings have, in consequence, assumed a wonderful change; and many of those places which have heretofore boasted of great attractions, have dwindled to insignificance, or have become totally annihilated; others have sprung up into importance; and constant changes will, no doubt, take place, dependant upon the convenience which railways afford, and the energy of the inhabitants in whom the ostensible office of management is reposed.

The great attractions of the day in the racing hemisphere are the handicaps-engagements which cannot be looked upon, by those who are really anxious for the welfare of the turf, but with the utmost caution. Ever anxious to devise and countenance such measures as are likely to prove a source of remuneration to owners of horses as a body, it is not to be imagined but that they will patronize such stakes as are likely to be profitable to themselves; nevertheless it cannot be denied that the golden prizes, which many of the great races of this kind have become, do possess, in more ways than one, features which demand the most careful attention. The inducement to owners of horses not to let them run on their merits is a subject of very great importance, and can only be obviated by the adoption of a systematic arrangement of a sort of general committee, by whom all handicaps might be made, and who, by carefully watching the performance and condition of horses, would be enabled to form a just estimation of their qualifications-a desideratum which cannot be acquired by any other means.

BB

Another evil arising from handicaps is the inducement to keep in training animals which, in weight for age races, could not have the most remote chance of winning a maiden plate. They would not be kept in training but in the hope of winning some time or other; the consequence of such wretches being consigned to the stud must be that of deteriorating our breed of horses in future ages.

These are ostensible reasons why many gentlemen are deterred from their laudable desire to breed race horses. In the first place, they feel assured they will not be able to get them well in the handicaps, and the better the horse the more remote their chance; whilst to depend upon paying expences by weight for age races, there being so few, is next to an impossibility, and I fear they are annually becoming less numerous.

As the manners, customs, habits, and conditions of people change, so must the laws by which they are guided, and in nothing is this principle more apparent than in racing. A careful perusal of the Racing Calendar from its first publication up to the present time is proof on that point; it will be seen that rules have been made and altered in conformity with circumstances; but it is somewhat singular that some few should be preserved having a contradictory tendency towards each other, arising from their having been introduced at different periods to suit particular cases. The source from whence the rules of racing emanate, and the manner by which they are rendered effective throughout the community are subjects worthy of attention. The old Latin maxim, Consensus facit legem, is particularly applicable to racing law-it is by general consent that persons engaged in such speculations become liable to the edicts of the Jockey Club.

At provincial meetings the rules of racing are only rendered binding by the introduction of a clause to the effect that the rules and regulations of the Jockey Club are held in observance; that tribunal, in point of fact, possessing no authority except at those places where they have expressed their connection to be extended. The custom prevalent at most race meetings, of inserting a stipulation to that effect, should never be omitted. With proper articles, the power of the Jockey Club is effective; but without them, that tribunal cannot be appealed to, either with regard to the rules already established, or for arbitration in the event of disputes.

The Queen's Plate articles may be looked upon as the basis of the general rules of racing, and express most of the leading features: they are very comprehensive, and, with few exceptions, if the whole code of racing laws were to be compressed into their enactments, very little more would be required, and they would be more simple, consequently more easily understood. One of the clauses in the Queen's Plate articles, which requires horses to be shown the day before running, when they are to be entered in the name of the owner, accompanied by a certificate under the hand of the breeder, testifying the age of the animal, suggests rules which are unquestionably necessary. Under existing circumstances connected with the present custom of frequently bringing horses to the meeting on the day of running, it might be inconvenient to carry out all the enactments of this clause; yet some useful hints may be gleaned, and some modified course adopted for the purpose of identifying horses, and ascertaining their respective owners. The identification of horses, and more especially the proof of their ages, would be most satisfactorily