4 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Feb. 2, 1382. 



THE BRITISH MATCH. 

 r T , HE cable message from the American Directors to the 

 -*- British National Rifle Association Committee, given 

 in our last issue, in which the conditions of the inter- 

 national match Tvere accepted, barring the proposed kneel- 

 ing at 200 yards, and demanding a guarantee of a return 

 visit in 1883, drew out a very prompt response from the 

 Britishers. On Wednesday last came the cablegram from 

 Sir Henry Halford to Gen. Wingate, saying: "We accept 

 standing, 200. Return match must remain an open 

 question." This response should be entirely satisfactory to 

 our American shots. The favorite position at 200 yards for 

 our marksmen has been readily granted by the challengers, 

 and that absurd demand for a guarantee has been as promptly 

 snubbed. The word was an unfortunate one to use, but 

 no other seemed to fit the place better, and so it went over 

 the wire. What we want here, aud what the above message 

 did not properly set forth, was an assurance on the 

 part of the British Association that there should be some 

 sort of reciprocity on their part respecting visits. That 

 promise should not be so strong as a guarantee, but it should 

 be made a pledge as shall lead us to reasonably expect the 

 pleasure of a representation from Wimbledon at Creedmoor 

 in 1883. The Committee feel that should the American 

 team this year fight a losing or winning battle, that the next 

 match should be fought out on this side the ocean. In this 

 they but reflect the opinion of the general company of the 

 National Guard of the city and country, and it seems strange 

 that there should be any need of giving more than a hint to 

 the British Volunteers that, a return visit would be accepta- 

 ble to their American cousins. Another week should see 

 the definite settlement of this last possible point of doubt in 

 connection with the match, and then all will be plain sailing. 

 There is much positive hard work to be done, and with the 

 experience which the selection of several previous teams has 

 given there ought to be no repetition of previous blunders. 

 The error of having the team manage the captain must not 

 be repeated. Instead, the team should go forth in the char- 

 acter of a sub-committee of the N. R. A., subject to such in- 

 structions as the N. R. A. may give it, and amenable to the 

 greater body. Meanwhile it would well become ambitious 

 marksmen in the National Guard of any State to get all the 

 practice possible, under the assurance that those having the 

 final naming of the team will not be governed by any narrow 

 views and local prejudices. 



ATHLETICISM IX ENGLAND AND AMERICA. 

 'T^O a recent number of the Atlantic Monthly, Mr. A. Gran- 

 -*- ville Bradley contributes a most instructive and valuable 

 paper on the prominence of Athleticism in England. In this 

 sketch he calls attention in a very forcible way to certain strik- 

 ing characteristics of the English modes of thought in regard 

 to the importance of outdoor sports as contrasted with the 

 American view of the same subject, and draws a picture of 

 the high esteem in which success in athletics is held in the 

 mother country, which will, we feel sure, be new to many 

 readers. 



The importance of a healthy body is only just beginning to 

 be realized in America, but that some conception is beginning 

 to be had of its necessity, if the mind is to do its full share of 

 work in the best way, the growing interest in field sports 

 testifies. The Americans of to-day are the sons of fathers, 

 who for hundreds of years have been accustomed to work, 

 and these sons have thus inherited a disposition to labor, in 

 one form or other, which makes their office work almost a 

 second nature to them. It requires a decided effort on the part 

 of the average Ameri can for him to break away, and take even 

 a few days' recreation. A large class of Englishmen, on the 

 other hand, coming from a stock whose sole occupation for 

 generations has been amusement, inherit the mental tenden- 

 cies of their ancestors, and give themselves up to the business 

 of pleasure. But the surplus energy of the Anglo-Saxon race 

 must find a vent, and the result is that the Englishman 

 plunges into cricket, coaching, hunting, and shooting with 

 as much earnestness as if his living depended on his skill at 

 the bat, his handling of the ribbons, his seat in the saddle or 

 his prowess with the gun and knowledge of the habits of 

 game. So far as his methods of thought go, he might almost 

 as well be a professional cricketer, coachman, huntsman, or 



This large and constantly increasing class of Englishmen, 

 possessed of abundant means, are so earnest in their endeav- 

 ors to occupy themselves — to " kill time " — that they under- 

 take the pursuit of field sports with an energy that the most 

 ardent business man could no more than equal. To them the 

 ambition of life is to become a M. F. H., the champion 

 cricketer, or the best pigeon or battue shot. This ambition 

 absorbs their energies, and blinds them to all else. It is dif- 

 ficult for the American to understand how it is that an edu- 

 cated Englishman should spend his whole time in playing 

 cricket, hunting or coaching, to the. exclusion of any other 

 interest in life, and equally incomprehensible to the English 

 mind is the devotion of the American to business. Yet in a 

 veiy large proportion of eases, the motive is the same — occu- 

 pation. It is not simply the desire for dollars that leads the 

 American to attend so assiduously to his business, to put into 

 it all the energy of his race, nor is the ambition to excel in 

 athletic sports the fundamental reason of the Englishman's 

 devotion to the bat or the saddle. Deeply underlying the 

 t'wisons, which upon inquiry each would give for his course, 



merit. Besides the old and well-knowa names in the cata- 

 logue we find a number of new ones whose works are of un- 

 usual excellence. The etchings are especially worthy of 

 careful study. The very large number of pictures si >M dur- 

 ing the private view and on Saturday shows very clearly that 

 the excellence of the exhibition is appreciated by connois- 

 seurs and art lovers. About eighty pictures were sold for 

 $9,000, and seventy etchings for $600. No previous exhibi- 

 tion has shown equally good results at such au early day. 

 and this promises that the present one will be, from all points 

 of view, the most successful exhibition ever held by the 

 society. 



Mbmokv in Lions.— The charming story of his pet lions, 

 told by Mr. Thompson in our issue of Jan. it), is supple- 

 mented by a late experience of Mrs. Lincoln, of Boston. 

 This lady raised a pair of lion cubs in her Boston home some 

 years ago, a letter from her in relation to the subject having 

 been published in the Forest and Stream at the time. 

 After a time Mrs. Lincoln parted with her leonine pets, and 

 her visit to one of them, Emperor, the other day. is d( soribejB 

 in the Boston Post. The lion recognized her and manifested 

 his delight by the most extravagant demonstrations. He 

 licked her hand, sprang up and placed his paws on the grat- 

 ing, tried to force his head between the bars. Mrs. Lincoln 

 laid her head against his vast jaws and put her arms through 

 the bars around his neck, and the monstrous animal purred 

 like a great cat. He put out his paw to "shake hands," &f 

 his mistress's command, and then, as if overcome with joy. 

 lay down and rolled over and over, uttering meanwhile queer 

 little grunts and growls, and behaving altogether like a frisky 

 kitten. 



What It Means. — With its new outfit the Fobest and 

 Stream is one of the handsomest journals of the day. It 

 ought to be. Fine diamonds deserve fine settings. One or 

 two further alterations in our •'make-up" had been antici- 

 pated for the present issue; but the Fire Insurance Patrol 

 unceremoniously took possession of our offices lust Tuesday, 

 and threw a wet blanket (in fact half-a-dozen of them) over 

 our plans. We trust that the readers of the Forest an~d 

 Stf.eam: may accept its new typographical dress as an im 

 provement. It is certainly intended so be such — and more. 

 It is an earnest of our determination to keep the Foijest 

 and Stream where it has been for years— in the lead of all 

 journals of the world devoted to manly field sports. 



are the tendencies of his mind inherited from generations of 



ancestors, educated in such diverse ways. 



" I care for nothing but hunting, shooting, aud fishing," 



writes an ex-landlord, quite lately, while inquiring through 



the columns of the London Field, for a cheap residence abroad. 



"You must be an Englishman," says ■ Mr. Bradley, "to 



understand the exact spirit in which this is written, and the 



spirit in which it will be taken by the masses. Such a con- 

 fession in the columus of the public press in any other country 



would be taken as the apology of some harmless idiot. Not 



so here, however. Impossible as it may seem, an Englishman 



will recognize it instantly as having a great deal more of the 



boastful than the apologetic, and two-thirds of the rising 



generation, on reading it, will mentally chronicle that un- 

 known curiosity as 'a fine fellow.' The singularity, how- 

 ever/lies not so much in the fact of a vast number of indi- 

 viduals, whom accident has made independent of occupation 



as regards their living, devoting themselves with business-like 



energy to self-indulgence, as in the more than toleration, the 



semi-admiration, with which the workaday world, in its 



intervals of labor, from the prime minister to the agricultural 



laborer, looks on and cheers the barren feats or the school-boy 



gambols of grown-up children. Physical superiority, in 



short, is the fashion in England, and the public will shout 



louder and longer at excellence in amusements than they 



will at excellence in those qualities which help to advance 



their country, and the cause of civilization, and the good of 



men. " 

 The influence of public opinion in matters of this kind is 



very strong, and differs widely in the two countries. Up to 



within a few years the American who had no business, no 



regular employment, was looked upon as a ne'er do well, and 



dark prophecies as to his ultimate fate were indulged in by 



the wiser heads of the community, It was regarded as little 



less than a crime by the solid conservative business men of 



our cities for an individual to indulge his tastes for shooting 



or fishing. The public sentiment of England, on the other 



hand, not only tolerates, but most vigorously applauds the 



man, who, having devoted his life to some particular form of 



athletics, has become pre-eminent in this branch. The 



champion cricketer, rider or shot of his own district or 



county is generally esteemed. He is looked np to and ad- 

 mired by the masses, and, whatever his rank, may be the 



companion and friend of those occupying the highest stations 

 in his own neighborhood. At public dinners he sits at the 

 right of the chairman, and the newspapers speak of him in 

 their lists of the "prominent " persons present at social gath- 

 erings. 



An exaggerated respect for prowess in athleticism is directly 

 fostered by the early education of the English youth. From 

 the date of a boy's entrance to a public school he is taught by 

 the example of his fellows, and not infrequently by that of 

 his preceptors, to regard as altogether worthy of admiration 

 those who stand in the first rank in athletics, and he of 

 course at once joins the throng of their worshipers. But no 

 such general homage is paid to those who take the highest 

 frank in the studies to which he is now being introduced. 



The tendency of such influences as now largely prevail in 

 England is in the direction of narrow-mindedness. The 

 average young Englishman is likely to regard with contempt 

 any one whose views are not molded after his own. He 

 has his standard of what is excellent and desirable, and is 

 unable to conceive that any other standard should exist. He 

 does not contemplate it as possible that he should be wrong, 

 but assumes that those whose ideas differ from his own are 

 of necessity short-sighted, stupid and wrong-headed. The 

 life of a man who devotes all his energies and all his time to 

 fox hunting, cricket and coaching, cannot by any stretch of 

 courtesy be called broad. Nor is there any opportunity to 

 such an one for development or. improvement. We expect 

 that with added years a man's nature and intelligence shall 

 grow and mature, that by his reading and his knowledge of 

 events his mind shall become as time goes on, in some sense a 

 storehouse of knowledge from which we may draw informa- 

 tion that is of value, But nothing of this kind can take 

 place with a man whose thoughts are wholly centred on 

 some form of outdoor sport. He must of necessity stand 

 still, so far as mental development is concerned, and, at this 

 stage of the world's progress, to stand still is to retrograde. 

 Eveiy one else is moving forward, aud he who does not make 

 some advance, even though it be but slow, is sure to fall 

 behind. 



The advantages of a thorough physical education are very 

 great, and are coming to bo more and more highly appreci- 

 ated. There is danger, however, that in our respect for the 

 healthy body, the advantages of a healthy and cultivated 

 mind may come to be in some measure overlooked. In the 

 well-balanced constitution the two must go together to form 

 a harmonious and admirably adjusted whole. Probably the 

 prominence at present given to athleticism in England, does 

 but little real hami, but on the other hand, it cannot be de- 

 nied that there is a vast amount of energy wasted in pursuits 



of this character, which, if properly directed in other and Boy wades out and picks him up. Mow the Boy is back, out 

 more useful channels, might do much for the benefit of the of sight, and all is Still. 



Portrait of Herbert.— The Greenwood Lake Associa- 

 tion, whose club-house is in the Warwick Woodlands at 

 Greenwood Lake, has requested Mr. Matthew Wilson to paint 

 for the club a portrait of William Henry Herbert (Frank For- 

 ester). The club would be pleased to communicate with an y 

 individuals who may have in their possession pictures of Her- 

 bert that might be useful to the artist. The secretarj of the 

 association is Mr. Wm. O. McDowell, No. 5 C'ortlandl street, 

 this city. 



The Cuvier Club, of Cincinnati, gave a reception last 

 evening, the occasion being the opening of their slegaat u£*$ 

 club house, No. 32 Longworth street. We are happy to 

 chronicle this indication of the Club's prosperity and en- 

 terprise. 



ENGLAND CALLS HIM HOME. 



[WITH THE "FOREST AND STREAM'S 



ONE of our young Robin Hood's lately became inspired : 

 and blew off a'bubble after this wise : 



When erst through Chevy chunky flew, 

 The bird-bolt through the mirky mmv. 



Then las bubble burst, but a little soap and water started 

 him again. This time it was : 



Blow I my horn till some shall como 

 To tell me England calls me home, 

 Or may he It 'all be Brian Boroo 

 That calls me home with a pwhilla lew | 



But still he was not called. 



When in the squaggy 

 I shot the bully, belle 



Then he wailed: 

 squashing bog 



Or through the chippy, through and through. 

 1 drave my arrow, strong and true, 



But all I heard was only this, 

 To scantly fill my earthly bliss: 



"Come to me, Maury, if thou must, 

 But eftsoons get thee up and dust :" 



AN EASY READING LESSON. 



TOR THE LITTLE READERS OP FOREST AND STREAM. 



Tli 3 Man from Town is out on the Duck Pass. He stands on 

 the Foint and waits for Ducks to fly by. He has on a White 

 Shirt, a dark brown Coat, aud a black LTat. You can see him 

 a Mile off. Here conies a Duck. He is way up in the Sky, 

 but the Man will shoot, all the same. Bang! Bang 1 Did the 

 Duck drop? Not much ! 



The Duck flies on. Look! there is a puff of Smoke near 

 that Bush. Hark. Bang! The Duck drops in the Mud. A 



society at large, 



The Water Color Exhibition. — The Fifteenth Annual 

 Exhibition of the American Water Color Society opened on 

 Monday of this week. This year's collection of pictures is 

 the best that has ever been exhibited by the society, far sur- 

 passing those of 1880 and 1881, which were of about equal 



The Man goes to talk with the Boy. The Boy has an old 

 Gun, all Bust, The Lock is tied on with String. (I should 

 hate to fire it.) But the Boy has a Nice Pile of Ducks. The 

 Man has no Ducks at all, but he has Lots of Cash! Now the 

 Boy has some Cash, and the Man hits the Ducks, Seethe Boy 

 grin! The Man will take the Ducks home, and tell his Wife 

 that he shot thern all, with his Fine New Gun How Proud 

 she will be of his Skill 1 Is it right for the Man to do this? 



