Year: 1865

ADIsE-TRIALs OF SKtLL-TEsr OF DIFFER

 ENT WEAPONS, &c.

 have just returned from the attendance of Convention or Conference of which no pub lie notice was given, and many of the most in teresting features of which, in fact, could not be given to the public without trespassing up. on those private rights which it is the duty of every journalist to respect. Yet the objects of the meeting will possess interest to so many and its general character was so differ ent from anything we are accustomed to in New England, that if it were only as an incen. tive and example for others, the occasion should not be suffered to pass in silence.

 The first intimation received of the meet ing was some two months since, in the form of a printed circular issued by the Hawk Eye Rifle Club of Washington. Conn.,, inviting me to meet Convention of Riaemen on the 9th af June for friendly trial of skill, and for the discussion of a series of questions connected with the science of rife shooting, which were duly set forth. A letter accompanying the circular, informed me that the Convention was not intended to be public one, but that the Club were desirous of securing the attendance of the best riaemen and rife manufacturers in the country, many of whom had already accept. ed the invitations, which had been sent them, and all who came were to be the guests of the Club during their stay.

 The gentlemen of the Massachusetts Rifle Club, and all others whose experience enables them to judge of the difficulty of establishing and keeping up the spirit of such an institution on the soil of New England, will share with me, I am confident, the surprise I felt, that little town of 1000 inhabitants among the mountainsof Western Connecticut should boast of a Rifle Club of sufficient spirit to issue such a call.

 reached Washington via Bridgeport and the Housatonic Railroad to New Milford, where took stage for three hours ride over the mountains, which any one would enjoy who is fond Of riding, as the route abounds with lovely views, and picturesque effects of changing scenery. do not know that can convey my impressions of Washington in fewer or more comprehensive terms than by saying that il seemed to me in all it's characteristics. physica and moral. to be directly the opposite of it, namesake of the District of Columbia Ger tainly I could give no description which could express more strongly my own sense of the ex clusion of all that is offensive or depressing. A mere hamlet standing upon hill which itsel stood in valley surrounded by higher noun tains,-a beautiful stream winding at its base and overlooking 8 wide extent of irregular country, much of which, however, was richly cultivated;

 -" A most living landscape,

 Of woods, and cornfelds and the abodes of men At scattered intervals,'-

 it seemed indeed realization of one of those quiet, peaceful, rural bits of Paradise which we who remember back beyond the days of rail roads are apt to dream of as having comprised purer morality than is common in this fast and tawdry age, when every man we meet is so shrewd and smart that specimen of anything like old fashioned rusticity is refreshing. And for the two days passed there discovered nothing to dispel the illusion, which, sooth to say, was fain to cherish. Doubtless further investigation might have revealedthe trail of the serpent and enabled me to discover that even this peaceful valley was not free from selfish ness and bigotry and strife ; but of all this, i such there be, was in blissful ignorance, and was glad to enjoy the pleasant features which were obvious upon the surface, without seek ing to disturb their beauty by deeper investiga tion. It is enough that I found myself in the company of refined and intelligent and kind hearted people, who seemed by the exercise oi little common sense in dispensing with con ventionalisms, which under any circumstances are only necessary evils. to have attained a more rational standard of social life than is usual in the rural villages of New England. And the secret of it lay in the fact that the pastor and one or two other leading spirits were men who had the wisdom to recognize the claims of physical enjoyment as one of the di- vinsly appointed means of mental and moral improvement. and instead of drowning upon the natural instincts of youth, as if their only ten dency was to evil, had seized upon and turned them to account by encouraging and taking the lead in their healthy development. Under their auspices the Rife Club had been organiz ed, and now comprises some twenty or thirty hardy and intelligent men, who welcomed me and the other invited guests to an entertain ment as novel as it was pleasant and interest ling.

 l Two days were spent in rife practice at va rious ranges, testing the comparative merits oi the different guns, both muzzle and breech loading, and the evenings were devoted to so' cial enjoyment the ladies of the place partici, pating in all the proceedings) and the discus sion of questions connected with the art of rifle lpractice. The shooting range was the most perfect piece of ground for the purpose that could be imagined, comprising, strip of per E. AL