The Sun.
London, England, 1860-01-14 00:00:00

LI2'ERATURE.

Pictures of ;Sporting Life . and Character. By.
Lord William Lennox, author of "Morrie Eng-
land," &e. 2 vols. Hurst and Blackett.
The lovers of sport of every kind—hunting,
racing, fishing, shooting, yachting, deerstalking,
and all their modifications and varieties—will be
highly gratified with the contents of these volumes.
Their noble author is well known to the public as
a pleasant writer, as well as an accomplished
sportsman ; and his advice and opinions on all
points connected with this mode of pursuing plea-
sure, consequently, carry some weight. He is
evidently an enthusiastic lover of sport in its old
English sense, strongly denouncing all the tricks
and devices of modern introduction, which have
transformed pastime into a vehicle for gambling
in its worst forms. In every branch of his subject
he upholds the fair and honourable method, entail-
ing hard work and the exercise of skill, patience,
and resource, speaking of the system of the
" battne," now so fashionable, in terms no less true
than forcible. Steeplechasing is another form of
sport which meets with his severest reprobation.
fie quotes from an old letter on the subject, which.
says—" The steeplechase is a relic of ancient fool-
hardiness and cruelty. It is ridden at the evident
hazard of the life of the rider, and likewise that of
the life and enjoyment of the horse." The author
brings a large collection of historical and geo-
graphical anecdote to vary the more technical
portion. The following passage is entertaining .
"Among other distinguished patrons of the turf may be
mentioned Oliver Cromwell, who (like most other country
gentlemen of his day) was fond of field sports. The Pro-
tector was far from being, by nature, of a gloomy and fero-
cious disposition, until ambition and the terrors consequent
on regicide and usurpation harrowed his soul, and made him
a reckless tyrant; indeed he could at times descend to
facetiousness and even buffoonery. An anecdote is related
of him which proves that, had he lived in the present age,
he would have been a member of the four-in-hand club,
and have been much more harmlessly employed than in be-
heading a king and seizing a throne. Sir John Birken-
head wrote a poem, entitled ' The Jolt,' upon Cromwell
being thrown off the box of his coach, which he was in the
habit of driving through Hyde Park, drawn by six Ger-
man horses, sent him as a present by the Court of Olden-
burg, while his secretary, John Thurloe, was an inside pas-
senger. It seems that the horses were startled, and ran
away, and the Huntingdon ',squire, losing all control over
them, was thrown on the pole, and was dragged along the
ground for some time; a pistol, which he carried in his
pocket, went off, but, by that singular good fortune which
ever attended him, he escaped with only a few slight bruises.
In despite of the hypocritical cant of puritanism, Cromwell
retained a love for the turf, even after he had attained regal
power. Richard Place (his master of the stud) was owner
of Bustler, got by the Helmsley Turk, of the famous Whits
Turk, the sire of Wormwood and Commoner, and of several
breed mares, one of which, a great favourite, he concealed
in a vault, during the search for his master's effects at the
Restoration, whence she afterwards took the name of the
Coffin mare, by which name she stands in many pictures."
The subjoined paragraph proves the importance
attached to the practice of shooting with the bow
in the middle ages :
"It will appear that the first use of the cross-bow was
introduced into England by William the Conqueror. An
act, made in the fifth year of Edward IV., directs that
every Englishman shall have a bow of his own height, of
yew, ash, wych, hazel, or auburn ; and that butts shall be
made in every township which the inhabitants are to shoot
at every feast day, under a penalty of a halfpenny when
they shall omit this exercise. Several other statutes were
made in succeeding reigns for the promotion of archery ;
and in the eighth year of Charles I. a commission was issued
by that king to the chancellor, lord mayor, and several of
the privy council, to prevent the fields near London beine.
enclosed 'so as to interrupt the necessary and profitable
exercise of shooting,' and also to lower the mounds where
they prevented the view from one mask to another. In
1753, targets were erected in the Finsbury-fields during the
Easter and Whitsun holidays, when the best shooter was
named captain, and the second lieutenant."
The following. portrait of the sporting character of
the late Premier will interest his admirers ;--
"Lord Derby's secession would have been a great blow
to the turf, for his lordship is exactly the man that ought
to possess a racing stud. Enlightened in his views, liberal
in his transactions, devotedly fond of the sport, highly
principled in private and public life, a denunciator of the
rascally tricks of the !black sheep' that infest the ring,
his loss would be deeply felt. The fact of his wishing to
sacrifice an amusement in which he took the very greatest
delght, thus following the example of the late Lord George
Bentinck, for the purpose of devoting himself seriously to
politics, and applying himself undividedly to the advance-
ment of the interest of the Conservative party in Church
and State, placed the noble premier in the highest position
a public man can aspire to—that of a real patriot. There
are few individuals who ever enjoyed a race more than the
Earl of Derby. We can see hire now in our mind's eye,
with his double glasses, on the Goodwood stand, watching
the struggle, and describing, with the most accurate judg-
ment, the relative position of the running horses. Wo can
picture to ourselves the bright beam of delight that light-
ened up his intellectual countenance when his black jacket
passed the judge's chair first; nor can we forget the admi-
rable good humour with which he bore a beating. His
lordship never made racing a vehicle for gambling. He
was content to back his horse for small sums when the odds
were long against him, thus risking little, and never suffer-
ing more than from the disappointment of not gaining the
prize. By never betting deeply, his lordship's horses were
not scratched, because he could not get enough upon them,
a practice that, although sanctioned by high turf authority,
is, we consider, most objectionable. Lord Derby ran for
sport, and his backers were fully aware that his horses
would win if they could."
Notwithstanding the noble author's devoted love of
sport, lie strongly upholds the right of the brute
creation to fair play and humane treatment, and
takes occasion to censure the cruelty with which
cattle are deprived of water on their journeys to
markets and slaughter-houses, and quotes the letter
of Mr. Bishop of Bond-street, the champion of the
dumb creatures. The " Battue" is thus spoken of:
"The Lamm, whtch took its origin from foreign sugges-
tion, was unknown in England in former days, but at the
present time the slaughter of game effected on the estates
of our great men surpasses the surprising quantities killed
prior to the revolution of 1789 on the domains of the French
nobility. So tame are game of all descriptions in many
modern home preserves,' so unaccustomed are they to an-
noyance, that fear is a stranger to them. Their qualities
as ferce naturce seem at least suspended, and to shoot them
by wholesale, like barn-door fowls, requires no pains, and
but little art or skill—certainly not such as merits commen-
dation or comment. When we separate the ardour, the
uncertainty, the occasional inclemency of the weather, and,
in a word, all the hardships, as they may be termed, an-
nexed to the chase—when, in order to compass the object,
we frustrate all need of exertion in fathoming its resources,
and cease to place our reasoning and experience, however
unavailing at times, against the instinct of the animal—We
take away the means of enjoying that exquisite sensation
consequent on victory dearly purchased. To have a spirit
of enterprise in the field which nothing can quell; to be
patient and persevering under difficulties, however com •
plicated ; to feel interest without relaxation in what is
going on ; to entertain hope under all extremities—this is
to have a temper for sporting.
"Did any one wish to satirize sporting, ho would do it
effectually by advocating the present ' eagle in a dovecot'
system. ' Sweet is the breath of morn, her rising sweet,'
says the poet ; so says the sportsman of the old school. Our
forefathers, after a substantial meal, usually taken at day-
break, hurried to the field, where they explored wilds and
wastes, their patience and perseverance betokening their
ardour, and their efforts continuing often till the period of
the setting sun and, although their subsequent convivia-
lity was too often carried to excess, recourse was not so often
had to the physician as now-a-days. Toil strung their
nerves, and habitual exposure steeled their constitutions.
What a contrast to the battue of our day, when the hour of
meeting is midday, when nets are used, and beaters em-
ployed to drive the game into a corner, when every gunner
has a man to load for him, when luncheon occupies at least
an hour durins, the day, and hen pheasants aro indiscrimi-
nately slaughtered to swell the returns of the killed I"
A great portion of the second volume is occupied
by a discussion on the merits of yachts and the
pursuit of yachting. He gives an amusing descrip-
tion of his purchase of a yacht, which exposed him
to endless mortifications and annoyances. It is to
be hoped that this chapter of accidents will serve
to warn the inexperienced amateur in making a
similar purchase. A lengthened account of the
best rivers for fishing in England is given, likely
to be very useful to the followers of Isaak Walton 's
favourite pursuit. We commend these lively and
pleasant volumes to all who pursue the various
branches of sporting life.