904 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
June 10. 
ought to do; if we realised the Christian’s portion and pos¬ 
sessions in Him, as we ought to realise it, not only would the 
sting of death be drawn out, Imt the sting of pain, the sting 
i of sorrow, the sting of solitude, the sting of everything 
that is most distressing and trying to us, would be drawn 
out too. And in proportion to our growtli in grace, will he 
our growth in peace and inward happiness, wherever and 
| whatever our lot may he. When we do not like to be left 
by ourselves, there is something wrong, depend upon it. 
When we cannot say, with fervent joy, “ I am never alone,” 
\ let us look into our accounts without loss of time, for we 
are on the eve of bankruptcy. 
There are many cottages in our land that would speak a 
word in season to those who dwell in lordly halls; but that 
of poor Adams would speak as loudly as any of them. 
Some of the rich, and kind-hearted, too, are content to send 
their gifts by other hands ; to provide abundance of clothes 
and other necessaries for the poor, but to place them under 
the charge of other ladies to distribute. This is, indeed, 
j giving to the poor; but it is robbing themselves. It is robbing 
themselves of the useful, blessed, and often beautiful lessons 
| to be learned beneath the poor man’s roof; it is robbing 
themselves of the blessedness of fulfilling their Master's 
orders, and of the exquisite pleasure of ministering, even in 
the smallest and humblest way, to the comfort and help of 
our poor brethren; and it is robbing ourselves of oppor¬ 
tunities of spiritual as well as bodily usefulness, for which 
we shall be called to a sharp account at the last day. Pride 
or bashfulness, or false humility, or thoughtlessness, or 
ignorance, is at the root of the matter, when we stand aloof 
from the poor man’s cottage; want of feeling, I believe and 
hope, is not often the reason. I wish all could open the 
door of Adams’ cottage, and peep over the screen that keeps 
away the draught. I am sure pride would stumble and fall, 
bashfulness and false humility would grow bold, and 
thoughtlessness and ignorance would let their tears run 
down, at the sight their eyes would see. And let us bear in 
mind poor Adams’ own word, “When a friend comes in and 
speaks good words it seems to stun the pain.” 
The rich have “ ten talents ” to trade with, certainly; but 
let none be discouraged and drawback; u good words stun 
the pain." 
THE CHELTENHAM POULTRY-SHOW. 
The second Cheltenham and County of Gloucester sum¬ 
mer Exhibition of Poultry was held, as will have been seen 
in our last number, at the Royal Old Wells, at Cheltenham, 
on the 1st and 2nd instant. Few localities have greater 
advantages for such a meeting, and the energies of the 
Messrs. Jessop were successfully directed to overcome the 
many obstacles that have hitherto proved so detrimental to 
such exhibitions at the present season of the year, when 
brilliancy of plumage is on the wane with fowls of all varie¬ 
ties, and so many are necessarily kept at home by their 
maternal duties. The larger birds were arranged in a tent; 
while Bantams, Tigeons, and the extra class, occupied the 
adjoining Pump-room. 
Heading the catalogue, Shanghaes made a goodly muster; 
and although we might not be able to assign unqualified 
ptaise to the occupants ot any one pen collectively, indi¬ 
vidual specimens of the highest merit were numerous. 
Thus, in Mr. Fairlie’s prize pen, the cock did not strike us 
a,s quite worthy of the hens placed with him, which latter, in 
form no less than colour, fully merited the distinction that 
had been awarded them. The largest bird in the exhibition 
was probably Mr. Cattelle’s Slianghae cock in pen 11; his 
weight, we are assured, has reached 14j lbs., though he 
would, ot course, tall short of that at the present season. 
| But had it been in our power to select any one bird, as 
combining excellence in form and colour, our choice would 
undoubtedly have fallen on Mr. Potts’ Shanghae cock in pen 
“ e yf a magnificent specimen, and left little to be 
desired, either as to symmetry or plumage. Commenda¬ 
tions were numerous in this class, and the birds were shown 
in far better condition than could have been anticipated for 
the month of June. 
Among the Partridge-plnmaged S/utnghaes, competition 
must have been very close, and, at first sight, our opinion 
would have inclined to the selection of Mr. runchard’s pen 
37, for the honour of the first prize, both on account of their 
extreme brilliancy of feather, as also for their shape and 
carriage. Closer inspection, however, explained the correct¬ 
ness of the judgment passed upon them, since one of the 
hens was slightly mufiled on the throat, and thus prece¬ 
dence was rightly accorded to the birds belonging to Mr. 
Mapplebeck. 
The White Shanghaes were a fair class, but would hardly 
call for any special comment, and as regards the Black, we 
must express our conviction, that the presence of any other 
colour on any portion of the plumage should be a fatal 
objection. On the present occasion there was not a pen 
shown where the cock was free from this blemish. The 
task of adjudication could have been no sinecure when 
some fifty pens of Shanghae chickens were submitted to the 
umpires. The difficulty of pronouncing on the merits of all 
young animals is proverbial, and in the present instance, 
several of the pens contained such juvenile inmates, that I 
anticipation of what they would be must have formed a 
necessary item in arriving at any ^conclusion for their j 
relative positions in the prize list. The Light Buff birds 
were in a decided majority ; and we should much question i 
whether twelve months since so good an assemblage could j 
have been brought together. 
In Coloured Dorkings, birds belonging to Captain Hornby 
took both first and second prizes, and most justly did they 
merit that distinction, for, although there might have been 
heavier birds in this class, none equalled them in respect of 
form or feather. We must express our regret at the com¬ 
parative absence of the White Dorkings, of which only two 
pens were present. 
Spanish, as might have been anticipated, added another 
victory to the triumphs of Captain Hornby, whose uninter¬ 
rupted successes in this family, during the past year, testify 
no less to the skill by which the original selection of his 
stock was guided, than the judgment and good management 
that has continued the Ivuowsley birds in their present 
enviable position. It is no disparagement, indeed, to other 1 
exhibitors in this class, to speak thus highly of the winners, 
and Mrs. Stow and Mr. Simons may well congratulate 
themselves on their possession of birds that possess so 
many good points as those that were shown by them on 
this occasion. 
In Game Fowls, likewise, the first prize fell to Captain 
Hornby, and better specimens of the old Derby Reds it 
would be difficult to find. The Bed Duns seemed to us de¬ 
ficient in brilliancy of hackle, and some hens, shown with a 
black-breasted red cock, conveyed an idea, that the blood of 
a gray Duckwing had something to do with their origin. 
If anything could replace Malays in the position they 
once held in the public estimation, the very beautiful cock 
in pen 17 0 would do them good service. 
Mr. Sayer’s Chittagong liens should have had a male 
companion of higher pretensions, since a better place was 
probably lost to them from the inferiority of their consort. 
Bolands were a large class, in comparison with the total 
number of pens. The White Crested birds, belonging to ' 
Mr. Adkins, which carried off the first prize, were decidedly ; 
good, but the cock had suffered terribly in his topknot, in i 
which some wide gaps were visible. The Silver were a far 
better class than the Golden birds ; the former, indeed, were 
well represented, Mr. Rawson’s pen, No. 190, having points 
of very great merit. 
J he first prize in Gold Spangled Ilamlnirghs was w'on by 
Mr. Adkins. The cock, in particular, attracted our notice, t 
his saddle-feathers being well rounded, and spangled at the 
extremities, and not taking the form of the hackle as is too 
often seen. With respect to the Golden Pencilled birds, we 
shall still ask for a clearer hackle; the pencilling, however, 
was very good. 
Silver Spangled Hamhurghs were greatly in advance of the 
Silver Pencilled ; the latter, indeed, were very indifferent, 
the hens in the prize pens being but a few degrees removed 
from the markings of their Spangled cousins. 
Bantams included many good birds, but the Silver, pro¬ 
bably, would have stood foremost of the different varieties. 
Cross-Bred Fowls were numerous, but none struck us as 
likely to become an improvement on our present races of 
unstained pedigree. 
