THE FIELD 
465 
RACKETS.— BELVIDERE COURT, PENTOXVILLE. 
There was a time when the Metropolis, as well as other parts of the country, had its 
field sports. The business of the day concluded, half-an-hour’s walk to almost any 
j nt f r om St. Paul’s, brought the inhabitants of the great city into green fields, where 
they not only breathed a pure atmosphere, but were recreated and invigorated by sports 
and athletic exercises. Pigeon shooting, quoits, bowls, skittles and Dutch pins were 
then among the most favourite of these 
sports ; but the most popular of suburban 
amusements were games of ball. Foot ball, 
trap ball, and fives were the evening and 
holiday sports of mechanics and labour- 
ers • rackets and cricket were the pastimes 
of the middle and upper classes. The 
crowth of the Metropolis, and the increase 
of the population, which requires at the 
present time an annual addition of up- 
wards of 3,000 houses for their accom- 
modation — has converted suburban fields 
and public places of resort into a congeries 
of towns ; and field sports have conse- 
quently become well-nigh extinct. The 
Northern and North-Western suburbs 
furnished the largest number, and the 
most celebrated grounds for popular and 
out-door sports: with but one exception, 
however, they have all been destroyed by 
that ever advancing, never receding tide 
of brick and mortar caused by the con- 
tinued growth cf the great Metropolis. 
Not a single green vestige remains of the 
grounds of the old White Conduit House, 
Canonbury Tavern, and Albion Fields ; 
these places arc occupied by squares, 
streets, and terraces, in some instances 
of an elegant and costly description. It 
is rumoured that Highbury Barn Tavern 
will shortly shave the same fate. The 
owners of the estate upon which these 
ancient places of amusement, to which 
long usage had almost given the public a 
prescriptive right — have discovered that 
premiums for leases to builders, hand- 
some ground rents, and the ultimate 
reversion of the property to the family 
of the ground landlord, are more profit- 
able than the rents derived from those 
who catered for the public amusement. 
It is stated that in the fire of London, 
one house, although surrounded by the 
destroying element, miraculously escaped 
the general conflagration : so, amidst 
the destruction of the old public grounds 
caused by the enlargement of the Metro- 
politan Babel, one house has been mar- 
vellously saved from the general devas- 
tation. Surviving the destruction of its 
compeers, the Belvidcrc stands alone, 
like an oasis in the desert of brick by 
which it is encompassed in every direction 
for miles. A plan, dated 1753, in possession of tho Now River Company, represents the 
house as standing alone in the fields. It then had a pleasure-ground and bowling-green 
attached to it. It was originally called “ Busby’s Folly,” afterwards “ Penny’s Folly,” 
and finally assumed its present name of “ The Belvidere" hotel and tavern. Storer, in 
his “History of Clerkenwell, states that tho name was derived from the French word 
lelvider, a turret or terrace; but the more probable theory is, that it was taken 
fromthe Italian words Bel Fit/ere, i. o., a fine view. The act for tho forma- 
♦ 5 on of the New Rond from the old Bnttlo 
•ridge, now called King’s Cross, to tho 
lank, did not pass until 1755. Previous 
o that time, travellers from Paddington 
ad the north-western suburbs had to 
aako a long and weary detour to tho 
outh by a road which led them into tho 
larrow streets surrounding tho City pro- 
per, and thence into the City itself. Tho 
approaches to tho Belvidere wore then 
>y ancient paths. Tho only intervening 
louse between it and Cold Bath Fields, 
or example, was, only forty years ago, 
;ho ancient Merlin’s Cave, notorious ns 
;ho scone of the Spa Fields riots. 
In addition to a well-conducted hotel 
and tavern, the Belvidere now possesses 
the only open racket court near London. 
There is but ono other court in tho 
Metropolis worthy of notice, namely — 
“The Lord's,” at St. John’s Wood ; but 
that is, in a double sense of tho word, a 
closed court, for tho public are excluded 
from participating in or witnessing the 
game, and it ^ closed in by four walls, 
the players striking tho ball at their 
option at whichever wall they pleaso. 
The Bolvidore has for many years been 
tho scene of tho prowess of the most 
celebrated racket players in the kingdom, 
among whom may bo mentioned tho 
celebrated brothers, T. J. and M. Pitman 
(beyond question tho finest players in 
their day), Lamb, Morris, Sowden, Lewis, 
Tawncy, Sam, Kavanngb, Mackie, J. 
Mitchell, F. Erwood, Bull, Grcatwood, 
Kenney, Boucher, Black, and tho present 
racket-master of tho court, tho celebrated 
left-handed player, George Erwood, who 
is now open to play all England for a 
given amount. Pre-eminent among tho 
non-professional players is a well known 
gentleman who passes by the cognomen 
of “The London Amateur.” The amateur 
players comprise many merchants, barris- 
ters, and gentlemen of other learned pro- 
fessions. The grounds arc open to tho 
public, but tho well-known skill and tact 
of tho proprietor, Mr. Richard Rouse, 
ensure the moat perfect ovder. Lord 
Eglinton, and other aristocratic lovers of 
the game, are among the occasional visi- 
tors to this court. — /■ rom a Correspondent. 
PORTRAIT OF MR. GEORGE ERWOOD, THE CELEBRATED RACK El 1’LAYLR. 
pieces were enriched with precious stones and beautiful 
cameos. There were also some exquisite carvings in ivory, 
mounted in gold. 
The Queen and Prince Albert, accompanied by the 
Princess Royal and the Princess Alice, went to Gore-house, 
Kensington, on Wednesday morning, and inspected the 
collection of the works of Students of the Schools of Design, 
and also viewed Mr. Thompson’s photographs. Her Majesty 
and his Royal Highness were attended by the Hon. Caroline 
Cavendish, Colonel Bouverie, and Captain Du Plar. 
Prince Gholam Mahomed and Prince Feroze Shah had 
an audience of the Queen on Wednesday, at Buckingham 
Palace, accompanied by Sir Charles Wood, President of the 
Board of Control. The Bishop of Salisbury had an audience 
of the Queen to do homage on his appointment, and was 
introduced to her Majesty by Viscount Palmerston, Secretary 
of State for the Home Department. 
FASHIONABLE WORLD. 
The Earl of Leicester has returned to town from a fishing 
excursion in Scotland. 
The Earl and Countess of Camperdown have arrived in 
Wilton-terrace from Camperdown Castle, near Perth. 
The marriage of Miss Kerrison and Lord Bateman was 
solemnised at St. George’s, Hanover-aquare, on Saturday. 
A large party assembled to witness the ceremony, and after- 
wards partook of a dcjo&ner at Sir Edward Kerrison's in 
Lowndes’-square. The newly-wedded pair left town in the 
afternoon for Chevening Park, Kent. 
Viscount and Viscountess Dungannon and Miss D'Arcy 
Irvin have arrived in Grafton-street for the season. 
Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlayne and Miss Chamberlayne have 
arrived at Maurigy’s Hotel, Waterloo-place, from Hamp- 
shire. 
The Lady of the Lord Provost of Glasgow (Mrs. Stewart) 
wore at her Majesty’s ball on Wednesday evening a very 
elegant dress of white poult de soie, covered with bouillonnes 
of tulle, mixed with bouquets of blush roses; and tho orna- 
ments were of the most magnificent description, consisting 
of a tiara, necklace, bracelets, and agraffe for the body of the 
dress, all of diamonds and pearls. 
farliammtarjj. 
MONDAY.— Lord 9 Lord Brougham postponed the Law of Bank- 
ruptcy and Insolvency (Scotland) Bill for a fortnight. _. .. 
A Message from the Crown was read by the Lord Chancellor, 
acquainting their lordships that It was her Majesty's tatentton, In 
consequence of the war, to call out and embody such portions of the 
militia force of the country as occasion might require. 
The Duke of Newcastle having moved an address In answer to ner 
Majesty’s most gracious Message, . 
Earl Grey inquired whether those men who had volunteered to 
serve In the militia would have the option of retiring from tne 
force, seeing that tho terms under which they had enlisted were now 
The 1 Duke of Newcastle replied that it was Intended at P r “ ent 
embody 15,000 men, and only those regiments would be selected for tne 
purpose which had expressed a wish and a reudiness to be embodied. 
It would not bo necessary to embody whole regiments, and leave oi 
absence would be given to those men to whom it might he inconvenient 
to serve. He must add, that there was the greatest readiness on the 
part of the militia regiments to serve. , . , . 
Earl Grey expressed his satisfaction that, in the mode pointed out, 
the strictest faith would be kept with the men who had volunteered. 
The address was then agreed to. . 
The Bishop of Oxford, In presenting a petition from Aylesbury 
praying for the abolition of capital punishments In public, spoke.ln 
favour of executions being intramural, In tho presence of the sheriff 
and othor official parties. Ho expressed an opinion that the executive 
had legally the power of altering the existing practice. 
The Earl of Aberdeen expressed an opinion that tho executive had 
not tho power which the right rev. prelate attributed to them, and 
he greatly doubted whether execution in private would bo satisfactory 
to the public, He alluded to the case of Governor Wall, iu yhoso 
case the public would certainly not have been content if the execution 
had been in private, and said he could conceive many cmcs where it 
would bo most impolitic to have recourse to tho practice, and, as at 
present advised, he could not give any countenance to the prayer of 
th LordCampbell said that tby tho common law capital pnnlsliments 
must bo .before the public. The executive had not a he 
ordering them to take place in priv.a^ and he was sure ‘^nlv 
exncriment was made the public would not endure it. rile only 
choice lay between the abolition of capital punishments altogether, 
■^sftsstfsasr-*- 
Ireland had created in liis mind; but said ho was not prepared to give 
^^T^oTAo, of Oxford la reply, the subject 
dr Cou Q MOHs A -Lorf e john Russell, In answer to Mr T. Duneombc, 
stated that It was not the intention of Government to ^oduce a mea- 
sure this session founded on the report of the Commission on tho City 
The* seco nd* r* ea dl n g 'of the Excise Duties Bill baring heen moved 
Mr. Cayley moved, as an amendment, that the second l ' ng f 
should take place that day six months. After reviewing thepolicyof 
tho Administration In regard to tho war, he proceeded to that 
out of the malt and spirit duties £12,U°O OOOwm already ra^ and R 
was now proposed to increase that sum to i.1 5,000, OOO and ^° re /° re 
this was no party question, but the proposal was ono for a tax of from £1 
to /l 5s upon every acre of cultivated land In he kingdom The 
malt tax would not affect the upper and ®ldffie c ; dutj 
man, to whom the national beverage was th . e ,, b / n c ^ 
nf £5 tier cent, on imports would have fallen on all classes, anu 
given an Income of £6,000,000, ond the mercantile P°P u ]? tlo “ 
have been grateful for the proceeding. Barley was thc i lvot on 
which Improved and scientific agriculture turned, and he plaintively 
demanded why yarn was not taxed, seeing that it was to cotton what 
malt was to beer He believed that if, instead of increasing the malt 
tex \t were taken off, the demand for barley would ?/t e ' 
fnirt- find if beer were free, and no licence were reqaired, it might bo 
told 'for two pence p e r°p o t/w li e r e as It was announced that the price of 
beer wasTo be'ralsed. *He drew a plteou. picture of the poor «« com. 
and to the tax because it was oppressive. 
Mr. Stanhope objected to the bill. to aid 
Lord Monck defended the tax as a. temporary 
in providing means for the war, and which, therefore, had been very 
properly chosen, as calculated to fall on as large a portion of the popu- 
Th” M.rqulsof Granby .aid that the .moaiUon to tha tax wja noUn 
opposition to the war, although he considered the 0 J 
nor necessary; but we had now engaged in it, and there womauu 
disposition to Incommode Ministers In obtal " i f n ® n B “ | p P““ e r^o^td 
however, necessary to see that the best means of supply w ... , 
?o . The increased* malt duty ought to fee .resisted, becauaeit ffidno 
fulfil the condition that a national war should be borne by th' m 
of the people, but fell upon an already heavily burdened class. 
Mr Pollard Urquhart, as a free-trader, gave his support™ u 
amendment; and could not see why barley, which rvas expo^d to a 
J^erer ordeal than any other article, [should have an additional ta 
PU Mr P c"oMley, though an abstainer from all Intoxicating drinks, kept 
thomonhls table for his friends, and had constituents who disagreed 
with him, and therefore he had a right to speak on the subject, 
nb'tsed beer called it the death of life, and not Its bread, and said there 
was no reaf strength given by Intoxicating liquids. He should support 
G °SIr ra Benthick said this was part of a system Intended to withdraw 
taxation from towns, and throw it upon the country. 
Mr J Bull said that, as science had not yet taught us how to carry 
on^ cheap war, means must be found. He believed that there no 
imposition for this purpose to which the country would more cheerfully 
" U Jfr il B t ar a row n wid that the chief injustice of the tax JJJ 
upon the farmer, both as producer and consumer, and that it would 
especially full upon the small farmer who had so recontlj' boon brought 
under the Income tax. Ho wanted to know how tho English farmer, 
paying cent, per cent, upon u main artialc of Ills produce, could outer 
Into “ unrestricted competition " with the forolgnor, i 
Mr. Wilkinson could not seo how free trade could- properly bo 
brought into tho discussion, when an article waselthor wholly produced 
at homo or wholly produced abroad. 
Mr. Nowdcgato entered Into a financial argument to show that 
free trudo tended to u drain of bullion, and said that Government 
had not pursuod a system calculated to davelop tho resources of tho 
country. 
Mr. Wilson, In answer to the question who would pay tho tax, said 
there was no use in wasting time In discussing speculative opinions, 
for Mark-lano and the brewers had settled tho point that very day. 
Whllo there was no reduction in tho prlco of barley, which was 
that day at from 38s. to 41s. per quarter, tho brewers had raised tho 
price of beer, and Intimated that the public must pay tho tax. 
Mr. Spooner contended that this tux was unjust and unequal, and 
that an import duty ought to havo boon substituted. Assorting that 
the peasants were the great consumers of beer, ho mudo fight for that 
fluid in answer to Mr. Crossloy, and told him to go and ask a wearied 
labourer whethor ho found no nourishment hi It. Ono of Ills objec- 
tions to tho tax was, its depriving tho pcasuut of his wliolesomo homo 
brew, and driving him to the public house. He then dwelt upon tho 
value of malt (not glvon dry, but as a swoct wort) to cattle. 
Sir Charles Burrell, who was nearly inaudible, supported tho amond- 
Mr. Sandars contended that it would bo In favour of tho barloy 
growers to continue tho tax, as tho foreigner, who produced an Inferior 
kind of barley, would bo tlio more able to competo with the homo pro- 
ducer if the trade were thrown open. 
Mr. Floyer combated the view of the. preceding speaker, taunted tho 
Treasury bench with its sllenco-whlch was hardly courteous, con- 
sidering the magnitude of tho interests Involved— and contended at 
some length that tho proposal of Government was oppressive. 
There were loud cries for a division, and strangers wore ordered to 
withdraw, but at length 
Sir Bulwcr Lytton rose and said that the legislation of recent years 
had all been in favour of tho mercantile and manufacturing interest, 
and it might havo been fairly expected that those who had been bene- 
fited so much In peace would bo ready to assist In war ; but It was not 
to them that the Chancellor of tho Exchequer went, but to tho class 
that had undergone the sharpest and hardest struggle, uud demanded 
three millions of money. They also furnished the large.st supply of 
men, so that they had to contribute half in money ami bull in blood, 
contrary to the rules of military conscription. Ho also urged that tho 
agricultural class had been irritated by recent legislation, and that me 
only conciliation that could have been offered w “ tb 
tax which wus now to be increased, and which w o u 1 ^ {^1 1 U a 
injury. He charged the Government with a determined hostility to 
the owners of the land, and with first ulmlng at tholr political Influence, 
and next at their pecuniary Interest. Ho then inudo some sarcastic 
attacks upon tho Ministry, remarking that until those gTeat men had 
been seen in office together, you could no moro have imagined 
that tho Conservative-Liberals of ono House were the same as tho 
Liberal Conservatives of the other, than that a horse chestnut was a 
chestnut horso ; a mot which excited tho most Intenso delight in tho 
Opposition benches. .... , 
Mr. Drummond, in the course of a sarcastic address, expressed a 
wish that wo had a Foreign Minister who could write as good de- 
spatches as M. Drooyn de Lhuys, and he Intimated that the Emperor 
of France was beginning to bellevo that wo should not support this 
war, and there was an enormous camp forming at Boulogne, which 
some people were good enough to bellevo was to watch I russla. lie 
advised that wc should form three great militia camps, a'*d, far 
from thinking of getting off the malt tax, be thankful if wo escaped 
with a doubled malt tax, Income tax, and house tax, and so saved 
England from being tho battle-field of Europe . 
No Minister rose. .The order for strangers to withdrew was agoffi 
given, members poured in, and tho Houso was full. Then, amid loud 
dl Slr'john* Pakington rose, and after the Speaker’s return from hi* 
retirement. Sir John's advance to the table was tho signal for renewed 
di Slr P John l Paklngton accused his opponents of trying to stifle tho 
debate, and of Indecorous Interruption. Bd°fb r*t mSSSou 
astonishment that a Government which had asked tor two millions 
and a half of taxes had not condescended to vindicate their demand. 
He denounced tho proposed Imposition as most impolitic ut a crisis 
when unanimity was so desirable. He again called on the Govern- 
ment for an answer to the powerful argument* which had been advanced 
th Lofd g John Russell thought tho question was a much Wider opo than 
