659 
liifbicto). 
Quid sit pulchrum, quid turpe, quid utile, quid non.—Hon. 
The Oracle of Rural Life, or Almanack for Country Gentlemen, 
Sportsmen, Farmers^ and Gardeners, for the Year 1839. 
A. Baily & Co., Cornhill. 
This is one of the most interesting as well as useful little books 
of the kind that we have seen. As each month passes, first 
comes the Almanack, properly so called, with the Sunday’s proper 
lessons; to this follows an account of the proper farm-work to be 
done, contributed by Nimrod ; and then the cares of the Kitchen 
and Flower-garden, by Mr. Warden, formerly the editor of the 
Farmer’s Journal.” These are given with great minuteness 
and accuracy. They contain all that the amateur can want to 
know, and will be read with interest by the more practical man. 
Next comes, and one of the most pleasing features of the work, 
a short but graphic sketch of the Field Sport then most in sea¬ 
son, oftenest from the pen of Nimrod, but occasionally contri¬ 
buted by Tom Oakleigh. A short but useful Miscellany succeeds, 
and afterwards a list of all the fairs in the kingdom in that month, 
with the commodity to which they are chiefly devoted. 
At the end of the book is given a list of the packs of hounds, 
of every description, kept in England, with the name of the mas¬ 
ter and the locality of the kennel; and also a list of the horses 
entered for 1839, for the Derby, Oaks, St. Leger, and Goodwood 
sweepstakes. The whole concludes with the usual information 
with regard to stamps, duties, and assessed taxes, and a list of 
the Queen’s ministers. 
As a specimen of the sporting sketches—each of which is il¬ 
lustrated by a spirited and well-executed engraving—we give that 
of Steeple-Chasing, by Nimrod. We select it for the true old 
English sporting feeling, and the feeling of humanity, too, which 
it breathes:— 
There has been a great rage for what is called Steeple Chases 
within the last ten years; but we think it is now rather on the 
decline. Several objections, and some weighty ones, have been 
raised against them. In the first place, they are deemed cruel 
towards horses, who could never have been intended to go four 
miles, at their full speed, over ground of every description, inter¬ 
sected with fences, and this under much more than common 
racing weights. This objection is borne out by two striking but 
well-known facts:—First, four-mile heats are now almost entirely 
