other atrocity he may have a fancy for trying his hand on; while all the property holds, by way of pledge for his good behaviour, is, " My name is Smith." Now let's jog on a few miles further, and at Epsom we find the piece repeated with "immense success. "Got any reference or friend here that knows you?" says the bet-taker to the visitor as he offers the odds. "No, I have not." "Never mind, what's your name?" "Smith!" "Smith!" "That'll do--put it down." And down Smith does put it accordingly, for tens, hundreds, or thousands, just as the case may be, leaving "Smith, London," in the hands of his new friend as ample security for that sporting speculator. Still experience, the proverb tells us, makes fools wise, and it appears to have worked almost as effectually with a class which, generally speaking, we are not very apt to include within the range of this old saw; though despite the large sums that have been bartered for caution, we are inclined to believe the evil rather scotched than killed. As long as we have Derby clubs and Leger lotteries, shall we have a host of men of straw, ready and striving for an opening on any good man, whose courtesy or carelessness will let them in for a good thing. We are treading on delicate ground here we know ; but we have little sympathy for clerks in cutaway coats, or postmen who offer "a sweep" as an excuse for coming Sir James over their departments. To small tradesmen and others, with a little money by them, we repeat the usual bit of advice gratis offered by Mr. Tattersall on any such applying for an entry to his room: Keep it, and do not engage in betting;" and being, as we are, assured by some of the first sportsmen that this extended system of betting is injurious to racing, we think, from what we have seen and read, that the suppression of lotteries would not only prove beneficial to the turf but the community at large.

It is time, however, that we had brought this notice to a conclusion, which we shall with a few promised words on the Report of the Commons Committee. Their recommendations with regard to the power of the police over hells and gambling-booths we have already disposed of, while the grand features remaining for consideration are, whether the old and almost obsolete laws on gaming should now be revived and enforced, or if not, how should the legislature in future enact on wagering or betting, generally allowed to be a leading characteristic in the habits of Englishmen? On the first point it is scarcely necessary that the committee "recommend considerable alterations and amendments," amounting, indeed, as far as betting is concerned, to almost a total repeal. Two paragraphs, capitally drawn up, and containing, on the multum in parvo principle, a great deal of sound reasoning on the subject, we must direct the reader's attention to, the first peculiarly applicable to the hero of the whole business, Mr. Russell:

to say,

"But to keep upon the statute-books laws of a penal character, which have become obsolete and are little known, having fallen into disuetude, is not a matter of indifference, because such laws being called into action now and then, in special and particular cases, from motives arising out of personal considerations, become snares for the few instead of being restraints for the many; and instead of promoting what their framers considered to be the public interest, they

are converted into instruments for gratifying the passions of private individuals."

"Snares for the few!" "Gratifying the passions of private individuals!" Revenge, and love of filthy lucre, to wit. Who shall say the qui tam proceedings were undeservedly interfered with?

The other extract relates to the statute of limitations-the ten pound clause-which discreetly ordaineth that "one of Fortune's nobs," with sixty thousand per annum, may go just so far, but no farther, than one of her snobs with sixteen shillings a week; thus putting all sporting men on that par in purse, which Mr. Dixon attempts to enforce in character, and with about the same success.

"What sense can there be in declaring by law that a man may win or lose ten pounds by a game or a wager, but that, if he win or lose a larger sum he shall be liable to a heavy fine? Does such a law ever accomplish its own apparent purpose of protecting individuals from their own imprudence? for may not that sum, the loss of which is a trifle to a man in one class of society, be a matter of great importance to another man in a poorer condition? And if protection is the object of this law, does it not protect most those who, from their station in life, need protection the least, and leave comparatively unprotected those of an inferior class, who may be severe sufferers from apparently small losses?"

Previous to this wholesale attack on them, when turfites were squabbling and fighting one with another, the majority never called on the law to settle their disputes, having long discovered that, with its mighty aid, matters were only likely to become worse and worse; indeed, that any should have been found willing to fly to it, or assist others in screening themselves in its mazes and twistings, we ever have, and ever shall, consider as great blots on their characters as sportsmen, even if not as gentlemen. The true lovers of racing do not desire it (although fast approaching that consummation) to be regarded as a business, but a recreation; and though putting it in the hands of common law might have the effect of checking the needy, the designing, or the careless, who now disgrace it with their annual defalcations, still bringing such debts under the control of the court of insolvency or bankruptcy would speedily destroy any respect yet lingering for the court of honour-the legitimate, and we trust shortly to see the only court recognised by the British turf. There is another consideration, in the opinion of some, perhaps, more weighty still, why the laws of racing should not be coupled with those of the land -that of absolute justice; not might, but right. "When any case of horse-racing comes before a court of law," says Captain Rous, "it is six to four but they make a wrong decision." Aye! and not only of horse-racing, but any kind of horse cause that ever appeared on the list. If legislators would take Mr. Tattersall's advice on the subject, a question as to warranty would henceforth never bother a learned judge, a learned gentleman, or a special jury. But to get to the 66 to be or not to be" of the whole inquiry.

"Your committee, while they recommend that wagering in general should be free, and subject to no penalty, are also of opinion that wagers are not matters which ought to be brought for adjudication before courts of law. The courts in Scotland have held that they

were instituted to try adverse rights, and not to determine silly or impertinent doubts or inquiries of persons not interested in the matters in question; and they have decided that their proper functious are to enforce the rights of parties arising out of serious transactions, and not to pay regard to sponsiones ludicra.' The Scotch courts have, therefore, declined to take cognizance of claims for money won by wagers; and your committee recommend that the law of England should in this respect be assimilated to the practice of Scotland."

Let this only be followed up by assimilating the matrimonial law with that of the same cannie country, and then show us the swaggerer that will dare make any offer of any sort without meaning to stand to it. Stakeholders now, though they have paid over the money, may live at ease; and gentlemen who undertake in a certain time to get through so many pounds of beef, or over so many miles of ground, must abide by the consequences both in body and estate. The decrees of the landlord," Bell's Life," or the Jockey Club, are not to be set aside; and speculators, who live to learn their mistaken notions in the fact of he's being a she (the Chevalier d'Eou to wit), the age of Madame Vestris or the winner of the Derby, the length of the B. C. or the premier's proboscis, will have little chance, however well inclined, of regaining their cash at the expense of their characters. From evil comes good; and we really begin to think, that through the assistance of the Messrs. Russell the turf may shortly see another day-though how certain wretches we wot of will fare henceforth puzzleth us not a little, but troubleth us not at all-pettifoggers bowed out of our courts of justice, swindlers and informers driven from the turf, and hells and hazard-tables suppressed! Whither shall they fly to beg or bully for an existence?

HUNTING SONG.

Merry and gay is the huntsman's call,
The sound of his winding horn.
What if the snow-drift heavily fall,
Or the icicle hang on the thorn,
Still merrily, merrily onward he goes
In the midst of his high-bred hounds,
Regardless of scratches, regardless of blows,
While swiftly he flies o'er the grounds.

Now hark to the loud "Tally ho!" on the air;
"Tis a signal that reynard's away:

He dashes through bramble, o'er coppice and snare,
While makes the good horse no delay,

But rushes he onward with upprick'd ears,

Nor stops he a moment for breath,

But facing all dangers, and knowing no fears,
He goes till he's in at the death.

Then merry and gay, &c.

PHEASANTS AND PHEASANT-SHOOTING.

BY CHARLES WILLOWDALE.

It is doubtful whether the present season will be a good one or not for pheasants. The continued drought through May and June was extremely injurious, not only to the young birds but to the old ones. Unlike to partridges, pheasants require a plentiful supply of water; and it is vain to expect to keep them in any cover which is deficient in this respect. Not only were the grips and pools in the woods dried up during the early part of spring, but owing to the total absence of rain from the 6th April to the 16th June (which will be found to have been the case generally throughout the midland counties), the herbs and plants with which the woods abound literally withered and died. There was no food for the pheasants; and Sir John Trollope's keeper told me that he found not only several young birds, but some of the old ones, dead from want of water. It was raining at the time he communicated this piece of intelligence; and however welcome the shower which laid the dust in Bainton village, it struck me that the zealous keeper begrudged every drop of rain that fell elsewhere than in Hilly Wood or Ashton Thorns. I had the same information from other quarters; and those who remember the wet of 1830-that of last year is too fresh to be forgotten-will agree with me that, however destructive to hares and partridges, the heaviest rains serve rather to ensure a good show of pheasants than not. This is easily accounted for. There are places in the woods so sheltered, that the nest is less liable to injury from wet than that of the partridge; and when once the ni are on the leg, owing to its length, they are less liable to get drabbled, and thereby starved to death, than the covey.

Speaking of the great fondness of pheasants for water, any one familiar with the fenny country will bear witness to their being constantly found on the margin of pools and lakes. And again, the ozier holts by the sides of rivers are constantly resorted to by them, as are the decoys in Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, and Northamptonshire. I remember a few years ago, when shooting at Dunham Lodge, now the property of Sir Charles Clarke, the utter consternation of the keepers at not finding the ruck of pheasants where they should have been, and the change to exultation and peace of mind which ensued upon beating a long spinney, about a quarter of a mile off, and there discovering the whole party cooling themselves by the side of the watercourse which flowed down its centre. The bewildered looks and hurried tones of the keepers on similar occasions are extremely diverting; because, as they are expected to know the whereabout of pheasants and partridges, and plume themselves not a little on this knowledge, their pride is touched and their temper

A A

ruffled upon the occasion of a reverse, by which their skill is baffled and the sport at a stand-still.

There are a few other odds and ends about the pheasants and woods which are worth bearing in mind in October. The leaves are generally too thick upon the trees, the briars and underwood too luxuriant and matted, to enable one to thread the woods or see what one is about during the first month of pheasant-shooting. But there is always sport to be had without disturbing the covers at this early time, or getting bewildered, scratched, and foiled, in struggling through copse and brushwood. Besides, the pheasants, as yet, have not wholly betaken themselves to the woods, where a moderate quantity of beating only has taken place among the stubbles and turnips. Or, if they have left for the woods, they are frequently amongst the spinnies, and double quick-lines mar them; fields of uncut beans (if any exist at the time this paper appears) and barley (and that there may be) are sure to hold them, if any are hatched in their vicinity: so are the seed-clovers and the tares. Morning and afternoon are the periods to beat for pheasants in these places; and I have long practised taking a walk with one quiet old pointer, accustomed to pheasants-and let it be unforgotten that almost all depends upon this-and whenever I have seen him drawing and standing by the side of a spinny or thick quick-line, with his nose turned towards it, and every inclination to turn in upon the rabbit tracks and little paths which are observable in such places, there needed no further proof where to prick for a pheasant with a couple of spaniels before regu larly driving the covers. It is a good and fair plan, too, on returning from partridge-shooting in September, to pass between the woods towards four o'clock, and keeping the pointers at heel, to note the spots where the pheasants are out at feed. The old birds, especially the cocks, are sure to be from three to seven yards out on the stubbles from three o'clock to five; and the young ones are not far off. Pheasants, like partridges, are fond of particular covers: no doubt from finding a plentiful supply of food, from the nature of the ground, wet or dry, as the season suits their habits or instinct, and where they are less liable to be disturbed by man or animals; and this is always so, year after year. I have known a ni of pheasants bred in the same wood or spinny for the last twenty years; and the old birds must have migrated some considerable distance for this purpose. And again, I have repeatedly, and especially last year, found a ni of pheasants which had taken up their abode in a particular spinny, and remained there until all, save two hens, were shot. I found them, I well remember, on the 3rd November; and as sure as ever I came down that spinny on my homeward beat, until the close of the season, I sprung some of the party within fifty yards of the spot, and seldom failed to add one to my bag. It would be about 3 o'clock in the afternoon when I passed by this ground; and odd enough, I tried it several times about 11 in the morning, and not a pheasant was to be found in the whole spinny: they evidently, therefore, came from some other cover to feed there. There are two nis of pheasants, if not three, this season in covers where not a bird was left last January.