THE SPORTING WORLD. 123 



his cherished one at home, where, with homely- 

 unity of feehng, she might still have remained 

 and filled the situation of life her family had 

 done before her; but now the stricken father, 

 with altered mien and saddened heart, has 

 only to curse the vortex of temptation into 

 which he trusted his child. Oh, London ! 

 such is too often thy work! 



I am not meaning to infer that the 

 daughters of the tradesman or mechanic are 

 less virtuous in deed than the dauo;hters of the 

 farmer, but there is a purity in the minds of 

 the latter that, more or less, becomes sadly 

 perverted in the former. They must witness 

 scenes of w^hich the others have no conception; 

 true, they may avoid contamination by them, 

 but they learn, nay, see, that they exist. They 

 bear what they have seen in mind, and this 

 produces reflection on what it would be far 

 better they knew not of. There is a knowing- 

 ness about London girls we do not find in 



