THE GUN, AND HOW TO CHOOSE IT. 53 



of proportion to the goodness of the material ; and, in 

 short, that the weapon is, what it assumes to be, first-rate. 



For instance, an amateur, who is a tolerable judge, can 

 easily recognize a lock of the first and finest quality, and 

 distinguish between it and one even slightly inferior, on a 

 very cursory examination. So he can judge, also, posi- 

 tively of the finish, fitting, and mechanism of every part 

 of the stock, there being nothing in the whole gun where- 

 in the hand of the master more clearly renders itself 

 visible. Now, if the locks and stock be manifestly of 

 first-rate quality and workmanship, if they show in those 

 niceties, for which every judge knows where to look, the 

 skill of the cunning craftsman, the appearance of the 

 barrels outwardly corresponding to the details of the rest, 

 the purchaser need not fear but that there is " that within 

 that passe th show " for it is not the habit, nor would it 

 be worth the while of any workman to bestow labor of the 

 most costly description, that which is the best paid, and 

 to be procured with the most difficulty at any terms, on 

 materials- intrinsically valueless. 



Again, it is only gunmakers of the superlative class, 

 who can command or furnish such work ; and their charac- 

 ter and interest must alike prohibit them from the practice 

 of low rascality, which must be ultimately, and, to them- 

 selves ruinously, detected. Thus, undoubtedly, many an 

 old sportsman of intelligence and observation, who has had 

 the advantage of long experience of the works of a num- 

 ber of distinguished gunmakers, who has compared them 

 with one another, and contrasted them against the highly- 

 finished pretending shams of the furnishing shops, and the 



