The Sun.
London, England, 1842-02-21 00:00:00

MONDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 2i, 1842

SPORT.
Under this title, the Paris Journal La Pre.sse, pub-
lishes the following amusing article, the original fea-
tures of which our translation shall endeavour to

respect as much as possible
Let me not be accused of sitigularity, or Anglo-
manie, for having selected a title which many
persons will deem as pretending as it is English.
But the word sport has no equivalent in the
French language, and fragments of phrases would
be required to explain what it explains so well.
Sport means horse-races, steeple-chases, coursing,
and fowling. Sport means also pigeon-shooting, dog
and cock fighting, losing, and bets of every descrip-
tion. In short, by the word sport are meant all bodily
exercises, all fatiguing and dangerous pleasures, re-
quiring strength, boldness, and vanity. And now,
have we a word of such varied signification—a word
so universal ? Is not the borrowing such a term of a
foreign language very innocent? Could I have re-
course to another title, I, who am about to dwell as

well as I can on the feats of which horses and dogs,

pigeons and men, are the victims or heroes?
This country has its
.own sort of national sport.

In Spain the sport is bull-fights—sanguinary but
grand fetes, bequeathed by the Moors to the

Spaniards.
At Florence and at Rome it is the races of horses
without riders.

Among the Russians the turf is the frozen water of
their river and lakes ; their sport consists in the art
of skating with gracefulness, boldness in driving a
swift sledge, the splendour of their equipage, the
magnificence and profusion of furs, the noise of the
little bells, and, above all, the coretrie with which
the horse in hand casts his head aside as he gallops.
In Germany, the waltz, pipe, and beer.
In the East, the Djerrid exercise.
In Holland, hawking.
In Africa, lion hunting.
In Bengal, guinea-hen catching, an ingenious ex-
ploitation of the taste those poor birds have for rum
In other parts' of India they have, together witi
gigantic combats of elephants, tigers, and panthers
pitched battles of thrushes against thrushes, and quails
against quails.
In France the taste for sport has always been very
lively, but it has not been directed to any particular
object. We handle the sword, pistol, gun, and car-
bine, as well as any other nation in the world. We
are neither less dexterous, less intelligent, nor less
bold than so many others. On horseback our teme-
rity is sometimes folly. What, then, do we lack to
become complete sportsmen ? Money, and the perse-
verance of vanity.
Our fortunes are too narrow to admit of our in-
dulging in the way of hunting and racing, a prodi-
gality which would be ruinous to us, but which
the heaps of gold of our neighbours do not
even notice. In England there are, certainly,
as many as two hundred packs of hounds ; of
that number a hundred, at least, belong to pri-
vate individuals, who are as rich as the heroes
of the Arabian Night tales. The other hundred
belong either to purses which have clubbed toge-
ther, or to industriels; who get up a hunting associa-
tion, just as a theatre'is got up at Paris; and, almost
always, the English speculation, which buys four
footed artists, fares better than the theatrical specula-
tion, which engages biped performers.
During three or four of the winter months the
cities are deserted and abandoned in England, and
towns-people become country-people. The woods-and
fields ring with the sounds of the horn, the barking of
dogs, and the shouts of the sportsmen.
With respect to vanity,ualthough nobody has, as yet;
reproached us with being in want of it, if there
be in the world an undeniable truth, it is that,
compared with the English, we were mere myrmidons
and Lilliputians. The English are not vain from
Englishman to Englishman, they are vain from
nation to nation. 'Whatever be their station,
and whatever they do, they always stand champions
of their country ; in short, they have a perseverance
of vanity which we have not. Let two travelling
Englishmen be surprised by a robber who is a country-
man of theirs, they will not even attempt to defend
their purses ; - they will suffer themselves to be plun-
dered without resistance ; but if an Englishman be
attacked by a band of French robbers, he will fight
like a lion, and rather die than yield, because he will
not let Frenchmen boast of having intimidated an
Englishman.
We Frenchmen have personal vanity and individual
gloriole, but not the least national feeling. We care
little whether the witness of our rashness be a Russian,
Englishman, or Frenchman ; provided we have two
eyes fixed upon us, it is all we want ; and at that
moment, we are fellows to fight a whole artny ;
but, its the two eyes 1.0.00 tv lvtAR-Oil us; our
ardour vanishes, and our passion is extinguished. Such
is the nuance between the characters of the two
people. Both are proud, and proud to excess ; one of
his country, the other of himself ; but the Frenchman
has but fits of vanity, and with the Englishman the
fever is a permanent one.
But let it not be fancied that sport recruits its
adepts, only among rich and idle men. The
most celebrated statesmen--Lord Palmerston, the
Duke of Richmond, Marquis of Normanby, and
so many others, Ministers as they have been, are,
or will again be, have not the less continued the
heroes of sport. English lawyers arrive at their
Courts on horseback, duly spurred and whips in
hand. Their names daily figure in the racing bets.
What would Monsieur le Premier President of our
Cour Royale say, if a lawyer presented himself at his
sittings to argue a cause, after winning, the day
before, the Royal prize in the Champ de Mars?
What jokes have been lavished on M. Thiers's grey
horse ? What was there not said of the equestrian
pretensions of M. Cousin, when, in the grand costume
of Minister of Public Instruction, he rode in the
King's cortege ? In France a statesman cannot be a
horseman, and a lawyer must move about only on
foot, or in a hackney-coach. ',ln England, on the
contrary, statesmen and lawyers must be sportsmen,
on pain, as regards the former, of being less popular,
and, as regards the latter, of having fewer causes to
plead.
The Derby, is a national fete in England. The
Derby ! Where is the Englishman who will not
sacrifice to it his dearest interests,. his most sacred
duties, and the presence even of the woman he loves
! Where arc the bright eyes, the
havea ? For, see you,
ever made so many hearts
beat,
delicious
a:
nu
ds Theskindled
moreetrhbayt ssions
p
the day
the Derby Stakes are run for, the rapture is general,
without fro m
sharing his lethargic
in
such
fanatical
one thinks and dreams of-nothing. but the Derby.
That wizard is potent enough to wrest, for a whole
day,
gravity,
an
enthusiasm, justice must be done to that marvellous
to everybe candid, Englishman
spectacle. Thousands of vehicles °over the plain, a
whole world intoxicated with joy, elegant and lovely
women, the Court, which, on that day, honour
the people with the exhibition of its gala
equipages—the Queen with her dazzling toilette
and beauty the greatest names of England
treating as their equals the grooms and jockeys—
the bets crossing one another—every vehicle converted
into a dining room—the hawkers—the 1 rs--the nurliberless
booths styling themselves Frascati Praneaitie) Rou-
lette Francaise, where one may, beforehand, double
or recover the loss which one will realise after the
race. Oh! the admirable, astonishing sight 4, twen to
eyes not English! The starting signal is given, the
horses rush forward; silence then becomes gene-
ral, for the moment is a solemn" one. The horses
fly ; they would not be so light if they carried all the
gold staked upon their swiftness. For some seconds they
are lost sight of behind a little eminence, but they soon
re-appear. A whole arsenal or opera-glasses and teles-
copes is directed upon them, seeking to follow the various
stages and 0
.4uctUations of a drama more rapid than the
wind. The green jacket is foremost, but the red cap
the rope; at the first turning it will have the advan-
vantage, but the turning is passed, and the green jacket
still prevails. The nearer the horses approach the
Soal, the more animated and desperate is the struggle.
ilence has ceased ; some excite by gesture and voice
the horse that carries with him, perhaps, their fortune.
The cries raised by the others, though more disin-
terested, are not less violent. Twenty horses have
started—only two or three return. What a dearly
bought victory ! But the conqueror has often won
30,0001. or 40,0001.
The race being over, vehicle races begin on the
road ; amidst an awful Confusion they cross, meet,
strike against one, another, and break down. The
roads are covered with shatterkl poles and wheels ;
no obstacle steps the tipsy drivers ; they pass every-
where l‘k.l Ottittuni every thing ; one would fancy
It t debacCie of the Neva, an avalanche of Mont
Blanc, a tempest on the ocean !
In the hierarchy of sport, steeple-chases occupy but
a second rank, though the riders were at the very
least gentlemen, and though the danger is greater.
But the steeple-chase horses are not usually of so pure-
a blood, and of so noble a breed as the race horses,
and, before all, respect to blood, respect to breed !
After steeple-chases, come, ever in compliance with
the hierarchic order of sport, greyhound racing. More
fortunate than the race-horse, who triumphs only to
enrich his master, the winning greyhound finds his
reward at the end of his career. In those races which
are much in fashion in England, considerable sums are
staked, won, and lost.
Next come stag, hare, and fox-hunting, with its
fatigues, emotions, and perils.
Thencomes pigeon-shooting—the other chasse in
slippers and robe de chambre, and favourite pastime
of folks who reject all that is adventurous and fa-
tiguing in sport.
In the way of interludes, we have proposals more
or less singular, and bets more or less extraordinary.
Thus, a Woolwich lieutenant offers to play a game,
at tennis against anybody for a sum of 50/., a singu-
lar accomplishment for an artillery officer
An individual announces that on the 15th of Ja-
nuary, at noon, he will throw himself, dressed, into
the 'blames, from the top of Waterloo-bridge ; for SI.
he will treat himself to that cold bath ; really it is too

cheap to deny ourselves so lively a pleasure, and all
hasten to carry their contributions to the appointed
place.
Another engages not to touch any food for ten days,
if a subscription of 101. be filled up, which he opens
to his profit at the Crown tavern. The pound ster-
ling for every day of fasting ! It is not too much.
After horses, greyhounds, foxes, pigeons, an d
bull-dogs, we at length come to boxers—that last
class 'of sport, which holds brutes in greater
esteem than men ; for do not fancy that this
classification is the effect of chance, and of a sense
of shame or disgust. Not so ; the English do
nothing without an intention ; they never blush at
what they do, and are enraptured with 'delight at the
hideous sight of two desperate boxers. Thus the last
rank allotted in the hierarchy of sport to those ignoble
fights proves only, that if they tremble when their horse
has caught a cold, they have somewhat less feeling when
they behold a man's ribs knocked in. In those com-
bats everything is opprobrious and repulsive—ay, every-
thing, from the teethless mouth, and the brutal looks
ofthose degraded beings, to the preparations and pre-
cautions destined to prolong the combat. Each parrain
brings his champion a pail of water, a large horse
sponge, and a bottle of brandy or wine. The heroes
are stripped to' the waist, and, at first, toster as
much from fear as Fora drunkenness ; but the mur-
murs of the spectators soon warn them that !they
have not come to witness mere childish play. Vanity
then prevails over fear,4and. the combat becomes se-
rious. At every tooth that drops, at every rib that
breaks, at every eye that falls out, there are voices that
shout bravo ! and hands that applaud. Tll, struggle
has already lasted an hour ; the boxers are exhausted ;
they can scarcely stand ; their faces are bruised, and
covered with blood ; their bodies present but a huge sore.
But they have not yet rested and assailed one another
above 50 times, and a beau combat must be renewed
at least 60 or 70. Their parrains apply the
sponge to the flowing blood, wash their eyes, noses,
and ears, pour wine or brandy down their throats ;
and the blows resound again, until one of them, ex-
hausted, panting, almost dead, falls down to get
qa no more. And yet the crowd is often dissatisfied;
often does it cry that there has been treachery or
cowardice—instead of one corpse, it would have two.
This is the ugly side of sport in England, for it
is not the populace only that is avicle of these loath-
some spectacles ; the most elegant men blush not to
witness them, and to speculate upon the fists of a
boxer with the same sang froid "as they speculate
upon a horse's legs.
In this department of sport we shall never be on a
level with the English, and we can but congratulate
ourselves upon it.

THE EFFECT OF SIR ROBERT
PEEL'S SCALE.
Experience has shown, that no very large importation
of foreign food takes place at duties above 2s. Bd. per
quarter, and that the extreme need of the country has
been usually relieved only at a duty of one shilling.
Sir Robert Peel justly observed, that " In 1838 the
total amount 'of foreign wheat taken for home consump-
tion was 1,728,000 quarters in the course of the year. Of
that amount 1,261,000 quarters were entered at the duty
of ls. In 1840 tne total amount entered for homb con-
sumption was 2,020,000 quarters, of which 1,217,0.00
quarters were taken at a duty of 2s. Bd." A simi;ar
proportion of the whole was imported at Is. last year.
Thus, according to the Premier's own showing, the
great bulk of the foreign supply comes in at duties in
the amount of which he makes a reduction of Bd. only,
and he leaves the same high minimum as before of 735.,
at which the ports are open ! We are aware that there
will be a somewhat freer entry of corn at average prices
of from 665. to 715.; but this we apprehend will be of
small benefit, for the premium on the reservation of corn
is still preserved. This is inseparable from any sliding-
, scale whatever. It matters comparatively little how
gradual the rise in the rates may be, so long as by re
training from entering corn at the higher, the seller can
gain the greater profit of the lowest rates. Sir Robert
Peel evidently assumes, that because the holder of the
foreign corn can sell at • a remunerating prim; when he
pays 35., 45,, 55., or 65., that he therefore will do it. Why
should he, when he can gain a still higher profit by
waiting ? It ought to be kept in mind that the continental
supply is itself a monopoly, and that it is limited,
according to the Report of the Consuls, to some
two or three millions of quarters. That more might
eventually be obtained we question not, but it is evident.
that no larger amount could be had under a demand con-
stantly limited by a sliding door, as often shut as open.
There ig, and would be then, a monopoly of foreign corn
in the hands of the sellers, and the sellers would regulate
their sales, not according to an option of moderate pro-
fits, but according to their own power of realizing larger
profits. We regard the reductions in higher duties as
mere moonshine ; high duties are seldom paid ; and if,
instead of redueinc_ 245. duties to 10s. ones, Sir R. Peel
had r9iii&ei them to 241., he would have made his scale
not apt practically worse than it was -befol--e."-So long
as the goal of open ports is at the end of the • slide, and
men have it in their power to hold on till they reach it,
it is of small importance whether the inclination of the
slide be rapid or gentle. The distance to be traversed
is of the utmost moment, and that distance the Premier
leaves undiminished.
.Till wheat is 735. a quarter—a
price invariably coincident with the severest suffering—
foreign food is still taxed ; and this is equally the case
under both scales.—Facts and Figures, which continues
to be a very useful publication.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.

ASHDOWN PARK COURSING MEETING.

(CONCLUDED. )
THURSDAY AND FRIDAY.—The Cup was won by Lord
Stradbroke's Magdalen beating Mr. Etwall's World's-End
(drawn lame). The Claret Stakes were divided between
Lord Stradbroke's Alinerva and Mr. Cripp's Extacy. The
First Class Craven Stakes were won by Lord Stradbroke's
Magna beating Mr. Bennett's Beha, The Second Class
Craven Wai won by Mr. Agg's Aid-de-Camp beating Mr.
Goodlake's Grateful Lass. The Compton Bottom Stakes were
won by Mr. Morant's May-Fly beatii.g Mr. Lawrence's Long-
stock. The Weyland Stakes were won by Mr. Lawrence's
Lucy beating Mr. Agg's Asp. The Second Class Weyland
was won by Mr. Bennett's Bravura beating Mr. Etwall's An-
toinette. The First Class Ashdown Stakes were won by Mr.
Bowles's Bamfylde beating Mr. Agg's Attila. The Second
Class Ashdown by Mr. Bowles's Boscobal ; and the Selling
Stakes by Mr. W. Etwall's Will Watch.
HOOTON, FEU. 17.—The Cup was won by Mr. Stanley's
Sultan, the Hooton Stakes by Mr. Ball's Bugle, and the Wir-
ral Stakes by Mr. Swan's Sydney.
WINMARLEIGII, FEB. 16.—The Cup was won by Mr.
Walmsley's Dart, and the Patten Stakes by Mr. Therripaunts
Sherry.
FLEETWOOD, FEB. 16.—The Fleetwood Cup was won by
Mr. Dobson's Bloomsbury, and the Rossell by Mr. Butcher's
Spree.
UNION CLUB, FEB. 9 and Io.—The Great Fleetwood Cup
was won by Mr. Hornby's Hyson, the Russell Puppy Cup by
Mr. Hornby's Hong, the Union Stakes by Mr. Ridgway's Deer
Slayer, and the Bold Stakes by Mr. Slater's Sweetbriar.

. •
LATEST BETTING AT MANCHESTER.
CHESTER Cur.-9 to 1 agst Lanercost-13 to 1 agst Alice
Hawthorn-13 to 1 agst Marshal Soult-12 ►to 1 agst Vulcan
—.24 to 1 agst Cruiskeen-30 to 1 agst Johnny (taken), and
40 to 1 agst Bellingham Lass. No other change.
DERBY. to I agst Chatham-25 to 1 apt Wiseacre—
SO to 1 agst Auckland.
Omis.-22 to 1 apt Ladye of Silverkeld Well. The rest
as before.