696 THE SPOUTING DEPARTMENT. 
achievements on record. We moderns have various modes of 
travelling through space at much speedier rate than our fore- „ 
fathers used to do; but, unless the aeronaut can outdo Mr. Os¬ 
baldeston, I believe that both the sailer and the steamer must 
concede to him the palm of victory. Upon the Manchester rail¬ 
road it is possible , I understand, to perform at the rate of 30 miles 
an hour; but, then, this cannot be done for a continuance . On 
the other hand, our hero, Mr. Osbaldeston, has travelled 200 
miles within the surprisingly brief space of time of seven hours 
nineteen minutes—which is at the average rate of more than 26 
miles per hour. 
To one who takes the trouble to analyse this performance, it 
must evidently appear to have depended upon three principal 
concurrences, independently of accidents ; viz. upon the rider 
himself; upon his horses; and upon the general arrangement of 
the whole affair. 
To the rider it is our desire to attribute much—every credit: at 
the same time, we must be permitted to say, that, in our opinion, 
the brunt of the race did not rest upon his shoulders. We should 
say that much of the success depended upon judicious prepara¬ 
tion and arrangement; upon guarding against and providing for 
accidents and contingencies; but that most of all depended upon 
the gameness and condition of the horses. As far as the rider was 
concerned (without wishing to detract one iota of due credit from 
Mr. Osbaldeston), we should say that a man would return from a 
long and hard day’s hunting, after having ridden his tired horse 
20 or 30 miles home, more fatigued and exhausted than he would 
have done had he ridden Mr. O/s match. It was not the riding;, 
♦ ? 7 
—nor was it altogether the pace, that was to beat Mr. O., but it 
was the liability of the occurrence of accident—the occurrence of 
something that had not been provided for—that told very much 
against the success of the performance. At the same time, take 
it altogether , it was truly a brilliant feat. It is an exploit of 
which it may be said, that, taking any one part of the trans¬ 
action singly, there is nothing that need excite our surprise; yet, 
looking at the tout ensemble , it really quite astonishes us. It is 
a performance of which Britain may be proud ; since she stands 
alone among all other countries in the world, in possessing the 
