Year: 1869

from Mr.. Ashbury.


& BY a cable despatch given to-day it will be
seen that Mr.. Ashbury, owner of the English
yacht Cambria, makes an explanation and de-
fines his position. His immediate purpose,
apparently, is to defend himself from charge
of being over-eager to secure a race across
the Atlantic with an American boat. BY
whom this charge was made does not appear,
but in our opinion there is no ground for It,
Indeed, we believe it could only have origin
ated in o misunderstanding of all that Mr.
Ashbury has done and said, and we are con-
fdent he might have left his defence in this
particular to the record he has made in his
many letters, speeches and other utterances,
formal and informal. If we know the mean
ing of words they will prove to any mans sat-
isfaction that he is not too eager; that he has
not such passion for sport as to blind him to
the chances Of defeat that he can see plenty
of reasons for avoiding any race that does not
hit his fancy to nicely; in short, that he has
fne phlegmatic, gentlemanly, blase indifTer
ence In the matter, and would just as lief not
race as to race, especially If there is the re-
motest chance that he may be beaten. This
defence, we say, was already made for him by
his own words but Of course it was In bis
discretion to make 1t stronger by one more
letter specially aimed to show that he is no
more eager for race, now that his yacht has
been badly beaten than he was before.


But who could possibly have charged him
with this undue anxiety, this rash eagerness
for race? We trust that the person who
made this charge had no spiteful purpose to
be s'sarcastical." We should be sorry to hear
that his countrymen had taken to laughing al
Mr. Ashbury, though If they should set so i'm
polite an example there are certain points In
the case that would sorely tempt us to follow
It. Is not the charge the least bit ''chsffy" in
its flavor? Too eager for race Behold him
all the season going up and down the club
rooms of that peaceful England airing his high
resolve to win certain cup and carry 1t home
with him. Listen to him declaring in his
speeches that "Americans did not know the
man they had to deal with" If they thought
him triHer; that the cup won by the America
had remained too long this side the Atlantic, and
fOr the uOuOI VI k1hBi~hu ct CGtotus
Now who, hearing oil this, would imagine that
the speaker had never entered his yacht for a
race for this cup-had taken no proper step to
authorize him to contest the possession Of this
proud trophy that he so values In his phrases :
We suppose II Is quite possible that the Bri.
tish yachting public may have regarded this
gentleman as too eager In one sense-too eager
| to assume an attitude that might make the I'M
instructed suppose that there was but one
authorized representative Of all England In the
Yachting world, and that his name was Ash
bury-too eager, In short, to thrust himself
forward and promise TO do more for the honor
of England than England required to have
done.


Mr.. Ashbury need not concern himself abou


his position. People understand IL very well


He beat the Ssppho, which was then a mir,


rate boat, and which was c...,,p,ed r., an seci


dent during N: race. No one disputed hi
triumph and, elsted by II. he challenges


everybody for everything. bst always ss'