honoured by an invitation for a limited number of its members to skate in the presence of the Royal Family. On the first occasion the invitation was to the water in the rear of Buckingham Palace. A thaw suddenly set in, which sadly disappointed the members, no skating being possible. On the next occasion the invitation was to Virginia Water, and seventeen of the members of the Club, including one of the writers, went there. This was during the life of the late lamented Prince Consort. A sudden thaw again set in, and the Royal Family consequently did not attend, but sent General Seymour to receive the members. It is pleasant to record his courtesy on the occasion. A little skating was carried out, but the thaw was fatal to the complete enjoyment of the expedition.

It would be well were other clubs founded throughout the country for the practice of this beautiful art. As a hint in the formation of such we would suggest that a certain standard of excellence be agreed upon as a sine quâ non to those who apply for admission, in addition to the ballotbox, and that little badges of merit in accordance with the different degrees of excellence attained be granted. This would create just emulation, and, if the sub-committee of examiners were carefully chosen, would tend to elevate the art.

In the London Skating Club there has never been any direct examination of candidates for admission, although it has generally been supposed

that none would be admitted but those who were to a certain degree proficient. The fact is that in the Club there is an honourable and gentlemanly feeling amongst its members not to propose any new members unless they bid fair to sustain the reputation for good skating it has deservedly acquired.

If the Skating Club succeed in getting a piece of water exclusively for their own use, as we trust they will (strenuous efforts being now made by some of the members), this season, their rule might and probably would be relaxed to any gentleman properly nominated, elected a member, whether he could skate or not, as most of the members of the Club feel that, as a Club for the preservation and elevation of the art of figure-skating, it should endeavour to teach the "tricks of the trade" to those who are willing to learn.

Altogether it is a very peculiar Club, in which there is much to admire, but it does not follow, however, that it should be wholly taken for a model for others when circumstances are different. But from the desire of all good skaters to join its ranks, it being the only club of the sort in England, it certainly very fairly represents the greatest excellence that difficult skating has attained to in this country at the present time.

An engraving in the Illustrated London News of Feb. 2, 1867, represents a skating match in the Cambridgeshire Fens, and goes on to say, “During

the late frost the skaters of Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, and other counties, where extensive tracts of fen country were covered with ice, met at several places for public competition in that exercise, the prize being usually a sweepstakes. The Huntingdonshire racecourse on three successive days was thronged by several thousand spectators of these skating-matches, the ground being overflowed and the water frozen hard to the length of nearly a mile. There was a similar gathering at Welney, on the Great Cambridgeshire Wash, which extends twenty miles across the county, between the Old and New Bedford rivers, and is about a mile wide. At Littleport also, four miles north of the town of Ely, the match on Monday week for the skating championship was very numerously attended. The skating here took place on the river, which is wide and deep at Littleport, but there were no accidents, though several thousands of persons ventured upon the ice. A course of one mile had been measured out, and the skaters had to traverse it twice, contending with each other in successive pairs. The champion stakes were won by Mr. Thomas Porter, of Southery; the time he occupied in skating the distance being seven minutės, four and a half seconds."

In the same number of this excellent journal we have described, too, how they manage skating in Paris, in the Bois de Boulogne, under Imperial patronage, with a very good engraving illustrating

D

the scene. We append the description which is annexed to the engraving.

Skating in the Bois de Boulogne.

"The Parisians and visitors to Paris during the late frost were enabled to enjoy the amusement of skating on the ornamental waters of the Bois de Boulogne without incurring the danger of any such dreadful accident as that which has cost us forty English lives in our lake of death in Regent's Park. It was once remarked that 'they manage these things better in France.' We give an illustration of the brilliant scene at night, when a large portion of the ice was illuminated by small lanterns hung in festoons from the posts around its margin, with the addition of standard camp-torches and Bengal lights. Another illustration shows the Emperor and Empress, with their party, on the ice of the Lac de Madrid; his Majesty, who is an accomplished performer of this graceful exercise, skating with other gentlemen in the middle, whilst the Empress is seated in one of the swan-shaped sledges, pushed swiftly along by an attendant skater behind, which are the resource of ladies disinclined to trust their own feet on such a slippery path. Near her Majesty is the young Prince Imperial, about to take a lesson in the art of skating. The general company, after a loyal recognition of their Majesties' presence, continued to divert themselves as before."

A brother of one of the writers was at Vienna some three winters back, and, having his skates with him, performed for the honour of Old England in his best style. The people were amazed, and clapped their hands in appreciation of his double threes, &c. There was not a man out of the many skating there that had ever seen anything of the sort before, but they one and all set to work to emulate him, and the Hungarians (who are celebrated for their small feet and high insteps, great advantages to the skater) persevered with wonderful courage, despite of tumbles and failures, and made great progress. The frost unfortunately broke up. It would be curious to see if the germs of figure-skating instilled into apt pupils have borne fruit.*

* Should there be any readers of this work in possession of any authentic information that would tend to throw farther light upon the origin and extend the history of skating, and would like, in the interests of the art, to entrust it to the authors with a view to its insertion, should this work ever reach a second edition, they will be happy to receive it.