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stand up as seldom as possible; and never to be tempted by the wish of seeing any particular object, to rush suddenly from one side of the boat to the other.

Skating is a winter amusement, but it is a very healthy one, and one in which a lady can, without any impropriety, indulge. The principal thing to be attended to, after having provided yourself with a pair of good skates, is to learn to balance yourself properly first on one foot, and then on the other. When you first begin to move, you will find it very difficult to avoid falling the moment you attempt to move one foot without the other; and it will probably be all you can do to keep yourself erect, even if you slide awkwardly along with both heels close together. When you do venture to separate your feet, you must contrive to balance your body so as to keep your ankles directly over your skates, and not to suffer the skates to bend under them in a slanting direction. When you see experienced skaters with the steel part of their skates cutting the ice in a slanting direction, you will observe that their skates only follow the same inclination as their bodies, and that the steel of the skate is still exactly under the ankle of the foot. When you begin to skate

properly, the leg that

is upon the ice should be kept quite straight and the weight of the body thrown upon it, while the other leg should be

kept straight also, but in a slanting direction, and with the toe pointing downwards. It is well not to look at either the ice or the feet, but to keep the face erect and looking forwards. When persons first begin to skate they balance themselves with their arms almost involuntarily, and, when one foot is off the ice, they raise up the arm on the opposite side to prevent themselves from falling. This is excusable in a beginner; but, as it has an inelegant appearance, the habit of doing so should be shaken off as soon as possible. The best way is to fold the arms across the breast, or to carry the hands in a muff. The greatest care ought to be paid to carrying the body gracefully and elegantly, and avoiding all sudden jerks. Skilful skaters make the figure of eight or the cross-roll, as it is called, with the greatest facility; but figure-skating is rather the accomplishment of a gentleman than a lady, who should be contented to glide gracefully and easily along.

I believe I have now mentioned most of the ordinary kinds of country amusements in which a lady can properly indulge; as I must confess I should not like to see you hunting or coursing, though I have heard of some ladies doing so. It is quite natural that a lady should like to see the hounds throw off, as nothing can be more animating than such a scene; but that is, I think, all that can be allowed. As, however, your

SPORTING TERMS.

415

husband is most probably fond of sporting, it may be as well to mention a few of the terms used by sportsmen when speaking of the chase, that you may understand what is meant, if your husband should give you any account of the day's sport, without troubling him by asking continual explanations. When sportsmen are speaking of dogs, they say a brace of greyhounds if they mean two, or a leash if they mean three; but they say a couple of hounds, or a couple and a half if they mean three. In speaking of a fox-chase, they say they have unkenneled a fox when they have merely found a wild one. A sharp burst is when the hounds go off very fast at first; but a check is when they lose the scent. accident turned back, he is The place where the fox is likely to be found is called the cover, and when the hounds are taken into it to try if they can find the fox, they are said to be drawing the cover. The scent left by the fox is called the drag. When the hounds find the scent they generally utter a cry, which is called giving tongue; and when the whole pack go off after the fox, uttering this sound, they are said to be in full cry. The foot of the fox is called the pad, and his tail the brush. Some sportsmen, instead of saying a pack of fox-hounds, say a kennel, and only say a pack of harriers, or a pack of beagles; the latter being a very small

If the fox is by any said to be headed.

kind of harrier. In hare-hunting, sportsmen say they have started the hare from her form, when they have found one. When a hare returns to the place from which she started, it is said she doubles. The tail of the hare is called the scut, and that of the dog is sometimes called the stern; but this last term, I believe, only relates to dogs used in hunting.

You will observe, my dear Annie, that though I have mentioned a few sporting terms, with the meanings that are, I believe, generally assigned to them, I would advise you never to make use of them in conversation; as nothing can be more unfeminine than for a woman to use terms only adapted to manly amusements. I am sure your husband would dislike to hear you ape the sportsman; as men, with very few exceptions, always feel disgust at a masculine woman.

BOOK VI. COUNTRY DUTIES.

LETTER XIX

RELATION BETWEEN A LANDED PROPRIETOR AND THE COTTAGERS ON HIS ESTATE. HOW TO RELIEVE THE POOR. ESTABLISHING SCHOOLS. TEACHING THE DAUGHTERS OF THE POOR TO MAKE CLOTHES, AND TEACHING THEM COOKING. -EMPLOYING THE POOR. ASSISTING THE POOR

IN ILLNESS.

MAKING CLOTHES FOR THE POOR.

I HAVE now, my dear Annie, a few words to say on a more important subject than those I have yet touched upon; I mean the duties which are imposed upon you by your residence in the country. As your husband is the last descendant of an ancient family, it is particularly incumbent upon him, and, of course, also upon you, to keep up as much as possible the kindly feeling which existed in the olden time between the lords of the soil and its cultivators, but which has, of late years, been too much neglected. The proprietor of a large estate ought to be regarded by the labouring cottagers in the light of a protector, to whom they

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