lent plans of Mr. England, who, having been appointed referee, rode the whole of the match before the American, in a gig, having been supplied with excellent relays of horses for the purpose. Mr. E. foresaw that, to perform so long a journey, the wisest plan would be to prevent over-exertion at first; and, although he knew the speed of the horse was equal to fifteen miles an hour, he resolved to keep him to a steady pace of about ten miles an hour, thus husbanding his strength for the last, if it should be necessary; and in order to effect this, he further resolved to drive before him himself, with his watch in his hand, so as to regulate his time. This plan had the additional advantage of encouraging the animal, and checking that desire to increase his speed, which, if the road had been clear before him, and horses were travelling on each side of him, he would have evinced, and which to check, would only have produced fretfulness. It is needless to say that, to effect this, Mr. E. was provided with some good tits, who throughout were not permitted to let the grass grow under their feet. To Mr. Frederick Smith also great praise is due for his activity, zeal, and attention throughout the match. He rode the whole hundred miles on five horses, and was indefatigable in giving notice for the necessary refreshments for the horse, and spared no pains to secure success. A stable was prepared for the reception of the American, close to the Five-mile-stone, into which he was taken at the end of every twenty miles. Gruel was his only food, but he occasionally took a snap of hay, and never once showed a disinclination to grub.

The distances were thus performed :—

Thus performing the hundred miles in ten hours and seven minutes, and having twentythree minutes to spare of the time allotted him for the task; and, we must add, he came in as fresh and as lively the last ten miles, and at as brisk a pace and with as free a will, to all appearance, as when he first started. In fact, Mr. England stated, that he had no hesitation in saying he could have done fourteen miles in the last hour, if necessary; and his owner declared that, if humanity would permit it, he should have no hesitation in oacking him to do thirteen miles in the succeeding hour with perfect safety. The conclusion of this most

extraordinary feat was hailed with loud cheers, and the little Phenomenon, as he may be well called, was walked back to the Red Lion at a pace of four miles an hour. On being groomed, and furnished with a fresh supply of gruel, he was as playful, and seemed to go to work on the hay with as good an appetite, as if he had been merely performing an ordinary task.

The road throughout was immensely crowded during the day with gigs and trotters of every description, but especially at the Staines end, where a most fashionable assemblage was collected, including a brilliant display of the fair sex, who seemed to take a deep interest in the match, and every time the horse approached received him with loud cheers. His last return was marked by more than ordinary exultation, and many rushed forward to touch him, a desire which the groom gratified by letting him stand for nearly two minutes.

The day was uncommonly favourable, and, although the road was hard in the morning, still it ran light, and, as the warmth of the sun increased, got better. The groom had but ten miles' relief during the whole journey, when a light boy was substituted; but this youngster was incapable of holding him in, and poor Bill was obliged to resume his seat, and finish his labours with a steadiness and regularity highly to be commended. Throughout the journey, although a small whip was provided, it was never once used, nor did the little animal on any occasion show the slightest vice or want of temper. A more extraordinary horse has, perhaps, never before graced the annals of horse-flesh in this country.

SHOOTING IN AMERICA.

The Landlord proposing a route by which we might connect a little sporting with it, and his son, a fine intelligent youth, to accompany me (says Mr. John Fowler, in his Journal of a Tour in America), I began to feel my chagrin rapidly abating; and slipping on a shooting dress, we were shortly in the woods with our guns, attended by a pretty good pointer dog. We found a few woodcocks and squir rels, but, upon the whole, had indifferent success. As to what we denominate game, it is by no meaus abundant in the country, except quail, which are generally plentiful. Hares and pheasants there are none; and partridges (in some places called pheasants) are scarce. Woodcock and snipe are uncertain, both as to season and situation. 'Tis true that great quantities of other birds may sometimes be killed; for instance, wild ducks and pigeons, which are occasionally seen in flocks of many miles in extent; but, after all, and much as I have heard of American shooting, in my opinion it is a poor, insipid diversion, compared with the English, pursued without any kind of system cr science, and reminding me more of

the onsets of our mechanics and shopmen, let loose at Christmas, and on holidays, to range the fields, no matter where, and pounce upon all, no matter what, than of any thing worthy the name of shooting. Let no English sports man think to better himself by emigration in this respect; I'll answer, upon trial, for his total disappointment.

There is not, there cannot be, an individual living, who holds our game-laws in greater abnorrence than I do, considering them as barbarous and absurd as they are wantonly tyrannical and unjust,-the very fag-end of the old feudal system, when barons could lord it over their debased vassals at their pleasure, and when in the humane diction of the day, if one of them "did course or hunt, either casually or wilfully, a beast of the forest, so that by the swiftness of the course the beast did pant, or was put out of breath," he was authorized to flay him alive. These days, thank Heaven, have passed away, and the doctrine of equal rights and equal privileges is becoming rather more fashionable, somewhat better understood, --and I hope yet to live to see this blood. thirsty code altogether expunged from a statute book it has so long disgraced; but if I must sport, I confess I should prefer meeting every unpleasantness still attendant upon these odious enactments, and shooting at English game in English style, to going a gunning with the most unbridled license, after the American fashion.

On several other days, or parts of days, one of our party and myself were occupied in perambulating the neighbouring country, with our guns. We met with little other game than woodcock, which, had we been provided with a brace of good English pointers or setters, would have afforded us excellent diversion: as it was we killed a considerable number. My friend was more successful than myself; ewing in part, perhaps, to the situations in which we found the birds,-chiefly amongst Indian corn, and to which he had learned better to accommodate himself. It frequently grew so high, and so far out-topped me, that

I often beard the rise of a bird within ten yards of me, without seeing any thing of it, and could only get snap-shots at best. The few quail which we saw were uncommonly wild; in fact, between buck-wheat, which is a very favorite resort, and Indian corn, it was almost impossible to get them on the wing. The best month for shooting here is November it is usually very fine: the corn is all gathered, and the game has nearly attained its tuli growth, so as to be strong enough, whether on wing or foot, to give it a chance for its life, and the latter system has no attractions for me. All the diversion which I could ever discover attaching to shooting consists in anticipation, in pursuit, in the exciten.ent of seeking and finding the game: there can be none in the mere killing, except as undeniable evidence of a good shot,-an attainment few ambitious of such distinction, with moderate

self-possession and practice, need despair of; but the exercise, which persons in general would never take without the accompanying stimulus of dog and gun, is worth all the rest put together. Whoever designs to sport here, though, as I have said, it will bear no conparison with English shooting, should take care to provide himself with good dogs; they are scarce, and frequently sell for extravagant prices.

ARCHERY.

Archery was so much approved of as a bodily exercise by Bishop Latimer, that he even preached a sermon in favor of it before Edward VI. After the Restoration, ARCHERY became the general amusement; CHARLES II. himself took such delight in it, that he even knighted a man for excelling an excellent shot, whose portrait is in the possession of the Toxopholite Society. After the death of Charles, it again began to decline, and was confined in practice to a few counties only, till about thirty years ago, when it was revived with increased splendor throughout every part of England, as will appear by the number of societies that were instituted; many of which exist and continue their yearly and monthly meetings to this day.

It is seldom in this stern and strifeful world that an instrument of destruction becomes altogether converted into an instrument of harmless gratification, and yet such is the case with the arrow, if we except its use by a few hordes of savages that are still without the pale of civilization. From the earliest period to which the pages of history lead us, to the time when a restless monk, instead of counting his beads, amused himself in compounding saltpetre, sulphur, and charcoal, it has been the principal missile weapon in war, and through it hath many a momentous day been lost and won. Had some benevolent philosopher of old been told, that such a change would happen in the employment of the mortal shaft, he might have supposed that it would come when Bellona had been driven from the earth. But, alas! he would have

given too much credit to future ages; the arrow and the javelin have been abandoned by the soldier, merely that deadlier weapons might supply their place.

This is especially an interesting subject to us, as never was the arrow in more able hards than when in the grasp of the English archer. They who have attentively perused the ac

counts of our earlier battles must be well aware of this historical fact. Talking about English archery also brings to our recollection the well-known tale, so fascinating to our boyhood, of the unequalled outlaw, Robin Hood, and his merry men; but those days are gone, and live only in ancient lays

Sir William Wood.

and legends. Sherwood's goodly trees have disappeared-and the stout earls of the North no longer "to drive the deer with hound and horn" lead their "bowmen bold" to the debateable coverts of Chevy Chace.

The Archery Meetings, or Bow Meetings, as they are variously called, at present established in this country, are, so far as our knowledge extends, a national peculiarity. We have seen our horse-racing imitated, however imperfectly, in Germany, France, America, and even India, but they have, as yet, been imitated no where. In these days of refinement, when the recreations of the wealthier orders are too often luxurious and enervating, and when their semi-foreign habits of life have too much estranged them from the interchange of domestic hospitalities, we hail with pleasure a rural and elegant amusement, having a strong tendency to correct both these evils. It is a curious, but well-ascertained fact, that these meetings are in some degree merely a revival of the customs of former times. Our forefathers made a law, and an admirable one it was, that in every parish, or hundred, as might be convenient, a certain portion of ground should be set apart for the practice of archery, and a butt and target erected at the public expense. It accorded well with the manly and warlike character of the people, and old chroniclers tell us that it was a favorite pastime among the young and active peasantry on holydays, or on a summer's evening, when their hours of labour were past. Does not this circumstance let us into one grand secret of the superiority of British bowmen over all their competitors? It also in some measure accounts for the wonderful rapidity with which effective armies were raised and brought into the field during the wars of York and Lancaster, and other periods of trouble in England. When the spirit of a proud people is aroused by a call upon their honor, or even by a favorite war-cry, it is not difficult to bring them en masse into action; but no such armies could have been raised in such a space of time, had not the arts of military life been much cultivated throughout the land.

It is highly honorable to the natives of this island that, even when little more than semi-barbarians, they disdained to use the poisoned arrow, after the fashion of some more civilized eastern nations. Indeed the same may be said, generally speaking, of all the different states in the quarter of the globe of which Britain forms so distinguished a part, and it is one of the finest illustrations of the European character. A few exceptions may be found, but exceptions should be thrown into the shade in all great national pictures.

However, in what we have hitherto written, as in the speeches of old Nestor, it may be observed that too much has been said about the past, and too little about the present. To those who may have never chanced to witness such a thing, a brief description of a modern

Archery Meeting may not be uninteresting. There may be various regulations and obser. vances in the many established throughout the country, but, in the leading and most essential points, they are nearly alike. A sufficient number of members having first been elected, the meetings occur at stated intervals, during the season of the year favorable to such amusements.

Non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum, says the proverb, and it is not every one that can conveniently give an Archery Meeting. Two things are indispensable-a fortune able to bear the expense, and a park, or other grounds, favorable to the purpose; and such members as are without these advantages are not expected to give one. A uniform is appointed, which is always (to our knowledge) green, but may vary in minor points according to the caprice of fashion or of taste; and those members who do not appear in it are fined. It is this costume that chiefly imparts the characteristic and beautiful appearance to the scene, which it must be allowed to possess, especially if laid in some wild and romantic park. It is then and there that the lover of antiquity might muse on ancestral times, and fancy that they were again about to return.

Prizes, proportionate to the funds of the society, and as appropriate as the good taste of the directing party can make them, are prepared for the occasion; there being different ones, of course, for the male and female archers. Of themselves alone they are not of any great value, but, by the glory attached to them, they become, like the monarch's glove to Fluellin, doubly and trebly enhanced in the estimation of those who obtain them.

Every thing being prepared, they who have the direction of affairs give the signal to commence; and we may say with the poet

Protinus Æneas celeri certare sagittà Invitat, qui forte velint, et præmia ponit: The distance at which the gentlemen shoot is one hundred yards-that of the ladies sixty; and the skill with which the latter frequently acquit themselves shows that Queen Bess was not the only Englishwoman who could "draw a long bow." Sometimes, during the pastime, the company are enlivened by the music of an attending band. When the sports are ended, the judges declare aloud the names of the winners of the prizes, who receive them on the field, according to the true principles of chivalry. To prevent any mistake, the arrows of every one should bear some particular mark or motto, that they may be distinguished when in the target; else it would be very difficult, if not sometimes impossible, to declare the victors. The evening is generally concluded by a ball, which need only be mentioned as differing from other balls with respect to the costume of the assembled party; but that circumstance givea to it a very unique and pleasing appearance.

Such are the leading features of a modern Bow meeting. Of course, as in all such out

of-door amusements, much depends upon the weather; but, when that is favorable, it may easily be conceived to be a scene of much pleasure and animation. It moreover possesses the advantage of being one of those morning amusements, of which the gentler sex can partake, without in the slightest degree infringing upon the rules of elegance and strict propriety. Though admirers of the chase ourselves, we quite agree with the poet when he counsels the British fair against

The cap, the whip, the masculine attire,

In which they roughen to the sense, and all
The winning softness of their sex is lost.

But the female archer does not come under the lash of such satire. The ancient Greeks, who well knew what arts of life accorded best with feminine grace and purity, disdained not to paint Diana with the quiver upon her shoulder, and the bow in her hand; and Virgil, when describing the magnificence with which Queen Dido was attired for the hunt, tells us that she wore a golden quiver. Indeed, the very act of discharging the arrow from the bow, to be done properly, must be done gracefully.

The chief natural requisites for shooting well, we should describe to be a quick and steady eye, and a quick and steady hand. The proper position in which the bow should be held and its string drawn back, which cannot well be shown upon paper, having been acquired, art and experience have to instruct the archer, first, to point the arrow in a direct line; and secondly, to elevate it according to the distance of the mark, and the strength of the bow. One thing should be most particularly attended to -that the strength of the bow be well adapted to the strength of the arm that has to bend it. The command of Richard to his army on Bosworth field, "Draw, archers, draw your arrows to the head," was in the true language of an able warrior. It is also essential that the arrow should be drawn to its head with a steady hand, which is not likely to be the case if the bow require more strength than the arm can conveniently give; and the consequence of which is, that the shaft is apt to swerve from the direct line, and fly unsteadily.

On

the other hand, if a bow of great power is not beyond the strength of the archer, it is the most effective, as the arrow may then be shot horizontally to a greater distance, and is, consequently, likelier to hit the target than when it requires to be much elevated.

Archery, however, is an art, and, like all other arts, requires practice to reach perfection; and thus, while surprise and admiration are often raised by some of the most expert, laughter frequently follows the attempts of the unskilful, who are generally new hands, and who, like the suitors of Penelope, sometimes make sad failures. Let the novice bear in mind the saying of Xenophon-that it was "downright impiety for such as had never learned to ride, to supplicate the Gods for

victory in engagements of horse; or for such as had never learned the use of the bow, to ask the superiority at that weapon over those who understood it."

Of course, the point of an arrow formed merely for amusement, is very differently constructed from such as were used in warfare, but the effect even of the former, when well shot, is such as few unacquainted with it would be likely to imagine. We remember to have seen one, that, having missed the target, and struck against a strong tin quiver lying near, drove its point right through. Due precautions against accident are therefore needful, but the arrangements are generally so good, that we never heard of the slightest unpleasant circumstance of the kind. Those who are sceptical about the force of an arrow, and we have heard some who are, might soon be undeceived by witnessing it. The effeminate courtier, in the play, may tell Harry Percy that

"but for these vile guns

He would himself have been a soldier.-"

We much doubt, however, whether the man who would shrink from the sound of cannon, would have felt at all comfortable had he been

confronted by the merry bowmen of old England.

During the last few years these meetings have been much upon the increase. We look upon it as a good omen. Any innocent recreation, tending to encourage good fellowrespects, but is in none more so than in the ship in a neighbourhood, is beneficial in many opposing influence which it possesses with the gay and inconsiderate, against the fascinations of a continental residence. We would rather see our youth, beauty and chivalry, enjoying themselves upon their native green sward, or shaded by the wide-spreading foliage of the saloons, or amidst the midnight carnivals of aboriginal oak, than revelling in Parisian Italy. Let those who choose decry, as did the partisans of Cromwell, the unoffending amusements of the different orders of society, as immoral and ungodly. We are not of that class, but rather agree with Mr. Burke, when he says that "to make us love our country, our country ought to be lovely ;" and are unphilosophical enough to believe that those amusements, especially if hallowed by time, are esteemed at a higher rate by the people, and have a happier tendency on the general mind, than sophists, or political economists, may write down in their tablets.

DOINGS AND SAYINGS IN THE PRIZE RING

TOM GAYNOR AND NED NEAL. The rain came down in torrents all the morning, but notwithstanding the ardour of the Fancy could not, and would not, be damped by "the pitiless pelting showers ;" and if the road did not display numerous barouches, drags, &c., as a May-day morning, neverthe