being informed that he was an opulent townsman from Bury St. Edmund's, and his name was "Lamme." "Lamb, do you call him?" said the king facetiously, "I know not what kind of lamb he is, but I am sure he has a good fleece upon his back."

Whatever may be said as to the once popular and fashionable amusement of hunting by the fair sex (and it is a well-authenticated fact that hunting was extremely popular amongst the ladies of the fourteenth century), it is asserting too much to say that the fair equestrians of those days rode astride the saddle. We have the best authority for asserting that an occasional fair, less scrupulous than modest, dispensed with the more elegant formalities of the side-saddle, and rode the chase in unbecoming attitude. It was not unusual in those days to meet with a huuting party composed entirely of ladies; but it was seldom that any of the party were seen riding in any other position than that most becoming their sex. It must not be supposed that the saddles of those days were very far inferior to those of the present day; although considerable improvement has been made of late years in that department of homely art, the lady's side-saddle has been known and used for several centuries.

That Cockney sportsmen have for years been the subject of ridicule, when unskilful in the field, may be learnt from an old ballad, bearing date about the year 1719, entitled, "The Citizens of London ridiculed," from which we borrow a short extract:

"A creature boundeth from a bush, which made them all to laugh;

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"My Lord," cried one, a hare! a hare!—but it proved an Essex calf!"

It would be a dangerous and bold attack to ridicule every London sportsman of the present generation, or to imagine because he resides in town he is not an adept at the sport he pursues. The term Cockney sportsman" is well applied to one with little or inferior skill in any particular sport; for it originated from the fact that formerly men whose occupations confined them to town throughout the greater part of the year were generally found unskilful at the sports of the country, but exquisite in their sporting attire. There is a large majority of this class amongst the metropolitan sportsmen of the present day; but there are in the minority some of the most famed and skilful in the land-some who might challenge the best rifle shots in the country, and who would ride the hunt or steeple-chase with equal boldness and daring to the most practised country squire; such is the advancement made, and the powerful influence of sporting excellence, amongst the inhabitants of the great metropolis during the seventeenth certury.

Before quitting the subject of hunting, let us glance at the sister sport-that of horse-racing. The perfection to which horses are now bred and trained to the race-course, the manner in which they are reared, fed, groomed, and stabled, is luxurious and extravagant. But when we look on the heavy stakes pending an important race, and on the public excitement it occasions, no one will say that more care and attention is expended upon the noble animals than deserving; nor is from one to two thousand guineas too high a price to set upon the head of a favourite race-horse, if the real speed and power of the animal be equal to its engagements. It is, however, much to be

regretted that the sports of the turf should have become so abused as to be the seat and chief rendezvous of disreputable gamblers, who carry on their extensive and fraudulent transactions with impunity. Hundreds have met their ruin there, and been reduced from wealth and competency to penury and distress: and we would that the evil ended here; but no-crimes of the deepest dye are stained upon the turf; and many a man has ended his days upon the gallows from indulging too freely, and giving his mind too much to the enticements

and fascinating allurements of the race-course. It is not enough that wives are left destitute, children of noble parents portionless, the homely and happy fireside suddenly converted into one of writhing anguish and despair, and all through the gambling transactions of one erring individual: evils great and irremediable have too often sprung from that corrupted source. But there is no good and popular sport but has its abuse: horse-racing might be as harmless an amusement as any, and as free from vice and folly. It is truly the sons of folly who abuse it, and resort thither without the means at their command to speculate upon the uncertainty of the race. There are always to be found persons of questionable character to entrap the unwary, and finally to lead them blindfolded on the road to ruin.

In centuries gone by, horse-racing was practised for pleasure-not for profit; nor was it ever intended to become the receptacle of thieves and gamblers, and a cloak for their pernicious practices.

We commend horse-racing as a pastime becoming princes and noblemen; as one of the most ancient and popular of good old English sports, beneficial to the country, the state, and the people; but in so doing we warn the young and uninitiated to beware of gambling, as a snare into which, if once drawn, the difficulties of extrication are irretrievably perplexing.

Turn we now to the subject of shooting and the severity of the game-laws. It is but a few years ago that a man would have been hung for entering by night with force and arms upon an enclosed ground and taking pheasants; but it is not so now, although the gamelaws are still very severe; and it is difficult even at the present enlightened age to convince the English peasant in some remote districts that there is any moral crime in appropriating birds or animals færa naturæ to his own use; and rather than resign that right which appeared given to every man by the law of Nature, we sometimes find that some men, more daring than others, venture to assert such a right as common to all, and prefer submitting to a trial of skill with the noble who sought to monopolize the whole-feeling that he who would succeed if he could, in securing his own share of it, has as good and fair a right to it as the other. But this would never do, or what would be the use of game preserves? and from whence would the markets be supplied? If there were no game-laws there would be no game; but when those laws are too severe, they only serve to enhance the excitement; for by infringement, the offender knows the danger and punishment that is pending.

But these observations are only applicable to the age of fire-arms. Before the invention of guns and rifles, the efforts and skill of the most cunning were baffled beyond measure, to know how to capture the feathered species: snares and traps were the only means known,

and those were attended with but sorry success. As soon as the use of fire-arms became practically understood, moorland and mountain became the favourite resort of those whose wealth and independence permitted them to provide themselves with the then novel and apparently formidable weapon-the fowling-piece. Ramblers in pursuit of game had no limit circumscribed for their favourite sport; they shot all they could, and some lived on what they shot. The gun was thrust through the bushes by the carefully-concealed sportsman, or fired from a rest behind a tree: nor was this considered otherwise than sportsmanlike, until a few years later, when the demand for such like sporting weapons increased so rapidly, and improvements having been made whereby the match-lock was superseded by the flint-lock, then, and not till then, the more refined art of shooting flying became the chief study of the aspiring sportsman. And thus step by step, as improvement has advanced in shooting, so has it been rapidly progressing in inventing and perfecting the indispensable percussion firelock, the result of which has been that every man of the present generation is more or less a sportsman, and almost every sportsman is a good shot.

Were we to enter into the various branches of shooting as practised at the present age, we should have to crave considerable indulgence at the hands of our readers; but as such is not our intention, we will not linger too long upon this extensive branch of English sporting, but commend it to the people as one of the most bracing, active, and manly amusements that can be pursued, particularly in winter, when health, strength, nerve, and appetite may all be gained in the shooting fields; and those who follow-out their pursuits upon a more extensive scale, and annually visit the Highlands of Scotland,

"To climb the trackless mountain all unseen,

With the wild flock, that never needs a fold;
Alone o'er steeps and foaming falls to lean:
This is not solitude; 'tis but to hold

Converse with Nature's charms, and view her stores unrolled."

Were every sportsman to relate the history of his own adventures, his success and failings, his hairbreadth escapes, his fatigues and deprivations, our hearts would sicken at the similarity of such tales: there are many who have written on the subject, and amused a reading public with their sporting career. Skilful old sportsmen are never either hasty or nervous-but cool, calm, and collected at all times: their words are like their shot-few but effective. We have invariably found this the case; but a noisy boasting fellow is generally the very reverse of a skilful sportsman. A young hand wishing to become a good shot cannot do better than practise at the target with a small rifle, whenever opportunity offers: by so doing he will gain confidence, precision, and steadiness, when in the field with dog and gun.

We are unwilling to extend our remarks any farther on this highlyengrossing subject, for fear of becoming prosy; and therefore pass on to other historical facts as to the sports of the ancients, and contrast them with those of the present century.

We find that the Greek admiration for physical beauty rendered indispensable such exercises and pastimes as developed the muscular

powers, and gave precision to the eye and the hand. In the ages of chivalry, to wrestle well was accounted one of the chief accomplishments of a soldier and a gentleman. Strength of limb, and sporting dexterity, were more highly applauded and revered than any other skill. But at that age the sports of the people were not confined to manly and athletic games; for bull-baiting and cock-fighting were predominant throughout the land, and in after-years became so popular, that kings, queens, and nobles were frequently amongst the spectators assembled on such brutal occasions.

In the reign of Queen Mary, bull and bear-baiting were exceedingly popular; but such like cruelties were entirely consistent with that queen's reign; and on her accession to the throne she gave a splendid dinner to the French ambassadors, and afterwards entertained them with bull and bear fights: the queen herself remaining a spectator of the scene for several hours: and the day following (as if the Royal party had been much gratified at the previous entertainment) they were present at a similar scene at Paris Gardens.

Amongst the Harleian papers, published in the reign of Queen Anne, are some curious specimens of advertisements of this horrible sport, one of which we extract as a sample of the rest: it is an announcement to the public in the following words:

"At William Wells' Bear Gardens, in Tuttle-fields, Westminster, this present Monday, there will be a GREEN BULL baited, and twenty Dogs to fight for a Collar; and the Dog that runs farthest and fairest wins the Collar. With other diversions of Bull and Bearbaiting. Beginning at 2 o'clock."

But such sports were too cruel and disgusting, amidst a civilized people, to have continued popular after education, science, and refinement had spread more widely throughout the land; and we are glad to find that such barbarous pastimes have long been entirely discountenanced in England, but are still predominant in Spain and elsewhere.

Amongst the more modern sports of the country, none are more manly and popular than cricket—a game which is not by any means of ancient origin; for it appears to have been entirely unknown until within the last few centuries. To such perfection has it now attained, that it is quite a science to become a skilful and efficient cricketer; but hundreds have attained that distinction; and whilst adding health and vigour to their constitutions in the cricket field, and gaining muscular strength and precision, they are conferring a national favour upon the public, and extending their cricket clubs and matches to every village throughout the land. The fame of English cricketing has spread from shore to shore: the columns of all the sporting papers are weekly filled with the exploits of noblemen and gentlemen on the cricket field; and we trust that the same good-feeling which harmonizes throughout the whole fraternity of cricketers will prevail as long as the world stands, and that the greatest distinction in the public matches will be given to him (regardless of station in life) who pos sesses the most skill and dexterity in the game.

Tennis-playing is of ancient origin: and since cricket has become so predominant, the Tennis Courts have been thinly attended, and are much fewer than formerly. In the sixteenth century the game of

tennis was very popular in this country, and was frequently countenanced by the participation and example of monarchs, some of whom were well skilled in the play, particularly King Henry the Eighth: Henry the Seventh was also an expert tennis player.

The limits of our present space will not admit our going farther into the various other national sports at present unnoticed: they will form the subject of another article. We will merely add an extract from a highly amusing article contained in the "Westminster Review" for July last, under the head "Popular Amusements," where the writer, speaking of the national importance of that subject, adds"But it seems never to have occurred to any one, that popular amusements have an ethical as well as an historical or antiquarian aspect, and are an index of the national mind, almost if not quite as instructive as the records of war, diplomacy, or legislation."

"I thought we had settled that, last night, my dear," said Mr. Meredith, using the muffineer at the same time to the eighth part of a muffin on his plate.

"Settled! settled what?" replied his lady, with feigned unfeigned astonishment.

Why, about this-pass me the sardines, will you love? thank you -why about this party."

"I certainly did hear you make some objections to it, which I, of course, did not suppose you contemplated my attending to," replied Mrs. Meredith; "I suppose, sir, you allow that parties come within the province of the lady, and not the gentleman; and I assure you I am not disposed to resign the privilege.'

"Excellent tongue," said the imperturbable husband; "is it Fortnum and Mason's?"

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Really!" replied the lady, with as much bitter sarcasm as she could throw into her really beautiful features, "I am not conversant with the names of all the trades-people who supply the house.

"I doubt not but Webster can enlighten you on the subject." "I do not think it quite impossible but the trades-people may enlighten me themselves, unless I take-another cup of tea, love, some decisive steps to alter our present arrangements as to expenditure." "I have not heard, Mr. Meredith, that your friends consider those arrangements in bad taste."

"I am infinitely obliged to them," said Mr. Meredith, bowing. "Then while it is so, Mr. Meredith, what alteration is necessary, may I ask?" said his lady.