The Sun.
London, England, 1840-10-10 00:00:00

71IE SPORTING RE VIE W.

"I like honesty in all places," said one of the
most upright Judges that ever adorned the English
Bench ; and if he liked to see this bright virtue
practised by diplomatists, how much more would
he be delighted to find it among a class of men
whose honour now unfortunately stands not so
high. The result of the St. Leger, we understand,
has caused great scandal even among black-legs ;
and some who profited by it have the honesty to
admit that they have some doubts of their right to
the booty. " Craven," however, has no doubts on
the question, and his virtuous indignation at the
conduct of certain parties will be responded to by
every honest man in the kingdom. These are his
words :

" There is no name more honourably linked with
the annals of our turf than that of Grosvenor ; that I
mean any personal reflection upon Lord Westminster
by the remarks I feel bound to make upon the result
of the late St. Leger, I trust no one will imagine, for
no design is more foreign to my purpose. Still, that
the noble owner of Launcelot has given a heavy blow
to horse-racing by the decision acted upon in that
event, there can be but one opinion. Let any man who
was not interested imagine the feelings of the backers
of Maroon (a horse backed at 4 to 1, and justly so
from his running with Charles the Twelfth) at seeing
him stopped, when he could have gone in a winner iu a
canter! What consolation was it to know they were
victimised because the larger:amount of money had been
laid out upon Launcelot ? What sort of a precedent
is it to establish, that the event of a race shall be con-
tingent upon the caprice of betting men and legs, and
not upon the qualities of the horses engaged in it ? It
is positively monstrous !"

It is pOsitively monstrous ! Many, and good
judges of horses too, backed Maroon as the best
horse ; and he proved himself to be so ; but he
had not fair play—he was kept back by his rider;
and all who betted on him were consequently
" victimised "—in other words, robbed. Let black-
legs, and betting men—and Peers, too—twist the
question as they please, " to this complexion must
it come at last." Lord William Lennox has an
article on " Fragments on Fishing," well interlined
with scraps of poetry, as usual; and " Craven," in
a history of the " Brighton Road," gives its pre-
sent and also its past state. Within the last forty
years, he says, the first attempt was made to per-
form the journey in one day, and the feat was at last
accomplished in thirteen hours ; now it is done in
five, and by and by it may be done in one.

BRITISH FARMERS' MAGAZINE.
In an Essay on the Theory of Manures, which
appears in the Number before us, the writer remarks,
in reference to agricultural improvement, " the
science of agriculture consists in the knowledge of
the constituents of the land ; of the crops consti-
tutionally adapted to it ; the due and timely appli-
tion of manure ; and that order of rotation which
produces the greatest abundance, and maintains
the land in the highest condition. Hence it fol-
lows that if ever our agricultural youth are to be
properly educated, a variety of experimental farms
must be established, as so many colleges of educa-
tiop." There seems to us to be much condensed
good sense in these observations, " Facts and
Opinions" is a collection of terse, desultory remarks,
for the most part on agricultural subjects.