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no company of coach-owners, are a firm that will perpetuate the glories of the road so long as good taste and the remembrance of by-gone days remain among us.

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How far the art of painting has progressed in this country a glance at the productions of our artists of the present day and those of 1700 will at once satisfy us. Look, for instance, at any of Seymour's works, and then at the two pictures of Mr. Landseer so admirably engraved, namely the favourites of Prince George of Cambridge and those of a lady. The former's works were in comparison signs of the Red Lion or the Marquis of Granby to a Sir Joshua Reynolds and hide me, angels of mercy, while I say the time will come when the long existing mania for old pictures will give place in favour of modern artists, who I dare affirm can paint a picture as true to nature as ever came from the easel of the ancient masters. This will never be allowed by those who, like a friend of my family, gave 1500l. for a Domenichino. He lived in Spring Gardens, and every Tuesday gave a public breakfast to any artist of celebrity who chose to avail himself of it. He had also a gem, as he called it, a small cabinet picture purchased at an enormous price. No powers on earth could have persuaded him any living man could have produced its fellow but it unfortunately happened an uncle of mine really brought the original with him from Italy at about one quarter the price the rich merchant had paid for the copy.

Many connoisseurs are, I doubt not, in the same situation; but to attempt to persuade them they are so would be about as vain as to attempt to persuade a man infatuated by a mistress that any one shared

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her smiles with him; (it might not be so difficult to rouse his suspicions against a wife;) but, though the world might know that his beauteous Emma lavished those smiles on an army, "pioneers and all," the pale chaste moon and his and only his Emma are but prototypes of each other in his ideas-tant mieux pour ceux qui savent profiter d'un heureux moment!

The different modes of engraving are so various that to compare the merits of prints with each other it is quite necessary that we compare prints engraved in the same manner. To instance: we will take the Quorn or Bedale meetings, and a most clever print lately come out of a Scotch terrier, entitled "Out of Luck." No comparison could be made between the merits of the prints. Of course the two former are more elaborate, expensive, and beautiful specimens of art; but the latter little gentleman is so perfectly true to nature, so perfectly a puppy of nine months old begging, that in the former we have a most valuable representation of men, horses, and dogs, but here we have the dog nearly as much so as if we had given a couple of guineas for him of one of those gentlemen in Tattersall's gateway, who, of course, are not to blame if dogs will persist in following them— though, strange to say, they have lately much left off that propensity since they have read the new law.

I know not whether I am wrong or not in my opinion, but I must allow I have always entertained the impression that the art of colouring engravings, wonderfully improved as it has, has not improved so much as the art of engraving itself. This, however, depends in a great measure on the style of the engraving. The terrier dog to which I have alluded is most beautifully coloured, and gains much by it. Whoever

SPORTING HINTS AND SPORTING PUBLICATIONS.

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engraved or coloured it must be artistes of the first eminence. I do not know who they are, but their production speaks for itself. Having seen the picture, I am quite sure the artist must highly estimate the justice done to his very clever production.

I have been led into observations on this subject to a much greater extent than I at all contemplated; but I am sure that every brother sportsman will allow it is one on which an abler pen might write at far greater length and to a tenfold advantage to its cause. If I had seen that cause more warmly advocated than it has hitherto been by writers on sporting subjects, the foregoing pages would never have met the public eye; but where, in the absence or rather want of use of better talent, any man who does his best, however more advantageous it would be to the cause that others should do better, he has at least the equivocal merit of doing something.

I know of no more appropriate medium through which the merits of sporting pictures or sporting prints can be laid before the public than through that of sporting publications. Any criticism of mine on such subjects will have little weight in biassing the judg ment of others: but an opinion ventured, on such productions, may have this solitary good effect,-it may call the attention of others to works of merit on sporting subjects, and thus induce them to exercise that better judgment on the works themselves, and doubtless to truly appreciate the merits of those who produce them.

AMPHITHEATRICAL HORSES.

JUDGING from what I have personally heard many persons say, I believe it is a very current opinion with the majority of the public that those horses that are trained for stage and amphitheatrical purposes undergo a great deal of suffering, and are subject to much punishment in bringing them to the state of discipline and subjection in which we see them at such exhibitions.

My suspicion that this is the prevailing opinion was strengthened a few days since, when inviting two ladies to go to witness the sagacity of the very extraordinary dog then exhibiting at Astley's. They declined, saying, that, "however they might be gratified by his performance and that of the beautiful horses there, the reflection on the sufferings these animals were made to go through in the teaching them took off all the pleasure of seeing the performance."

On my assuring them that they were under very erroneous impressions on the subject, they brought forward a rather strong argument-or case, more properly speaking in corroboration of their opinions, and one that they considered must silence me at once" Did I not consider it barbarous to fasten red hot balls in the feet of the wretched animals in order to teach them to dance?"

I admitted such a practice certainly bordered somewhat on severity, but was not worse than what Fanny

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Cerito, Carlotta Grisi, Taglioni, and other eminent dancers were compelled to go through, who, in order to be taught to stand on their toes, had, when young, red-hot iron heels to their shoes to prevent their bringing their heels to the ground. This idea was treated as preposterous; but, on my gravely and seriously assuring them it was a fact, they pertinently enough asked, to show the absurdity of my statement, "How could they afterwards put their feet to the ground when they wanted to do so?" I replied, "The same way the horses could if so treated."

This set the red-hot ball accusation at rest at once, and a little insight that I gave them into the real method employed in teaching horses in an amphitheatre, induced my fair friends to go and see Batty's really beautiful stud, whose appearance shows, that if they ever have undergone much suffering, it must have been a long time ago, or, if recent, that they thrive wonderfully on ill-usage, and their hoofs must certainly be made of the same material as those of the brazen-hoofed chargers of old that we read of; for, considering that they have danced on red-hot balls, they appear to have tolerably free use of their feet sometimes, and stand tolerably firm on them at others. Of this I may be allowed to judge pretty accurately, having permission to walk through Mr. Batty's and other theatrical stables whenever I like.

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When writing some observations on "Educating Horses," I mentioned not then alluding to exhibition horses that we could not teach horses any thing when under the influence of alarm or the inmediate dread of punishment. This being well known as a fact by all those in the habit of instructing horses in stage performances, it must be evident,

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