1 70 NUMBERS SHOT. [CHAP. v. 



But there is betting at Pigeon-matches ! so there 

 may be on any occasion ; and betting on trials of skill is 

 surely less culpable than on matters of chance. Heavy 

 bets have been made on which of two drops of rain 

 on a window-pane would first run down to the bottom ; 

 but the ultra-precise folks ought not, therefore, to blame 

 the rain for falling. They are at liberty to censure the 

 bettors as much as they please; but they should not 

 grumble at the circumstance either that rain falls, or 

 that Pigeons are shot with guns. Had I the happiness 

 to be blessed with a son, it would be an early care to 

 have him taught the skilful, and, I hope, judicious use 

 of fire-arms. The sterling English good sense of that 

 worthy pillar of the Church, Thomas Fuller, B.D., 

 Prebendarie of Sarum, declared that, " above all, shoot- 

 ing is a noble recreation, and an half-liberal art. A rich 

 man told a poor man that he walked to get a stomach 

 for his meat : And I, said the poor man, walk to get 

 meat for my stomach. Now shooting would have filled 

 both their turns ; it provides food when men are hungry, 

 and helps digestion when they are full." 



And the chance of the poor Duffers getting away is 

 really greater than may be imagined. Every one who 

 handles a gun is not necessarily a dead shot. In 

 " Bell's Life in London" for June 3, 1849, one record 

 out of many of such doings may be found ; and an ex- 

 tract is given, just to show that for a Pigeon to be thrust 

 into the fatal trap, is by no means an inevitable sentence 

 of death 



" On Friday week Mr. R. Rollings and Mr. W. 

 Green (both of Barnsley) shot a match at Hyde Park, 

 Sheffield, for 50 a side, at '20 birds each, 21 yards 

 rise, If oz. of shot, Hyde Park boundary ; Mr. Rollings 



