AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 



287 



breezes from the south west, attended by a thin veil of 

 clouds. The breeze died away by two o'clock, P. M. 

 leaving; us the afternoon free alike from sun or wind. 



The ground was measured, targets placed, ropes adjust- 

 ed, and all other duties performed, by the various squads 

 detailed for those purposes, the roll called, and the regula- 

 tions read previous to three o'clock, precisely at which 

 time the shooting commenced. 



It is not a little amusing to witness the varied expressions 

 of the different individuals, when they take their places on 

 the stand; their gentlemanly deportment, to which I have 

 before alluded, prevents all further demonstration of their 

 feelings than that which is evinced by the compressed or 

 quivering lip, or the bent brow; and towards the conclusion 

 when so much depends on firmness, the determination to 

 subdue the trembling of anxiety, so fatal to success in our 

 pleasing but difficult art. 



We would not envy that man's feelings, though he should 

 win the prize, who could be insensible to the reflection, that 

 some heart in the neighbouring group, was then beating res- 

 ponsive, with pulsations more anxious than his own, that 

 those bright eyes would follow, and fain direct, the quiver- 

 ing arrow as it flew, and those lips that are for us such kind 

 advocates, were then breathing, a gentle prayer for our suc- 

 cess; he that could not feel under such circumstances, let 

 him be for ever unblest, and let his arrow, like the seventh 

 bullet of the wild huntsman, recoil upon himself 



This is not all fancy, for the excitement of the occasion 

 has, nearly in every case, prevented that successful de- 

 monstralion of skill, so desirable for a prize contest. The 

 following is the number and value of the hits of each com- 

 petitor, and in the order in which they are enumerated: 



1st 



A 



20 hits value 



66 



2 



^ 



13 



(( 





41 



3 



3 



6 



a 





14 



4 



1 



9 



a 





23 



5 



3 



12 



ii 





34 



6 



g 



3 



a 





11 



7 



-.~_ 



9 



ic 





27 



8 



£ 



2 



a 





4 



9 



^ 



5 



i( 





13 



nearest to centre. 



same fortunate hand that had snatched, in the former year, 

 not the CUP from his lip, but the buckle from his belt.* 



The time of shooting was two hours precisely, and the 

 distance eighty 5'ards. 



It would be <i,reat injustice to pass without notice, the 

 handsome style of the new members of the Club, in the 

 manner of discharging their arrows; it was difficult for those 

 that knew them not, to say which were the oldest, or which 

 the youngest archers. 



In conclusion, Messrs. Editors, let me, in personal vindi- 

 cation, remark, that although I have sent you the most ego- 

 tistical communication you have ever published, yet I am 

 really the most modest man in the Club, with a single ex- 

 ception, and he is the M. 



Yours, truly, 



* Alluding to the form of the prizes. ^'"^ 



79 233 



By which it will be seen that ^ was entitled to the first 

 prize, which was accordingly presented to him by ^ 



The secondary prize, it will also be seen, was won by 

 the twice lucky 3 



There were but three hits in the Gold during the after- 

 noon, and, as a cvirious coincidence, let me remark, that 

 like the last year M held his post nearest to the centre 

 until late in the afternoon, when he was displaced, by the 



ON BAD PRACTICES AMONG SPORTSMEN. 



Messrs. Editors. 



Being nothing better than agunner, it will hardly be ex- 

 pected that I should be much accustomed to writing moral 

 essays; but were that the case, and my capability unques- 

 tionable, it might still be doubted whether the columns of 

 a work like yours, are the most fit in the world to make an 

 exhibition of my talent. I am no great lecturer on morality; 

 nor do I wish to be too fastidious in criticising the habits 

 and manners of my brother sportsmen, yet I cannot help 

 thinking there are some practices among them, which might 

 be amended, and a few perhaps entirely omitted, without 

 taking from their characters as choice spirits, or diminish- 

 ing in any degree the pleasures of their pursuits; and, 

 therefore, as in general they have but little morality in the 

 field, I will, with your permission, give them a smattering 

 of it in the closet. 



It has been said, and the saying has been ten thousand 

 times quoted that, "No man is a hero to his valet de cham- 

 bre;" and as I have no pretensions to the character of a 

 hero, nor yet filled the situation of a valet, (though heaven 

 alone knows what any of us may come to), I am unable to 

 vouch for the truth of this doctrine; bat I can certainly see 

 no reason why a sportsman should not be a gentleman 

 even to his dog. 



Of what use therefore, is it to 'damn' a dog for every 

 fault he commits? To hie him on! to call him back! or to 

 bring him to the down charge! in the language of a black- 

 guard! And what good purpose can it possibly answer, to 

 correct him for an ordinary error, in a speech garnished with 

 oaths of such vulgar grossness, as would disgrace the most 

 abandoned of the inhabitants of Bridewell? 



I was once acquainted with an old gunner, who, though 



