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a man may put his own ability to the test in 

 this respect. The fall of a swallow now and 

 then is no direct proof. I would suggest a 

 method, by which he shall be enabled to make 

 a juster estimate of himself, as well as to culti- 

 vate a steadiness of level to the extreme of 

 perfection; i.e. when loaded, shake out the 

 priming, all but the few grains that usually 

 adhere about the touchhole, or let the priming 

 be so little as to make it more than an even 

 chance against a fire ; and in this state let him 

 renew his levels at the swallows, under the con- 

 tingent uncertainty of shot. The repetition of 

 miss-fire, by showing how far he can or can not 

 keep hold of the flight after the fall of the cock, 

 will inform him how far he is under the dominion 

 of impressions which, if he ever mean to arrive 

 at excellence, must be effectually subdued*: 



* This test may also be successfully applied to reclaim a 

 man from the vicious hurried habit of withdrawing level 

 before the charge is well out of the barrel. I put this piece 

 of instruction into the form of a note, on purpose to render 

 it of more conspicuous use. It is not merely from the utter 

 defeat of the shot, which the least hang-fire will to a certainty 

 occasion, if a man do not acquire a habit of prolonging 

 level, but from the more serious mischief which may be the 

 consequence of a burnt priming. The probable tearing of 

 your fingers by the guard, from an explosion after the but 

 has quitted your shoulder, is no adequate punishment for 

 this undisciplined handling. I have more than once seen a 



