Year: 1869

[ picturesque of those still remaining is


Wimbledon, at the distance of some six
miles from the heart Of the town. Emery
ing from the long rows of suburban villas.
one finds ones self on the edge Of
broad level plateau, with long stretches of
turf, bounded by gorse and heather. and
to all appearance as wild as moor in
Scotland. Beyond the plain, the common
deseends pretty steeply to the edge of a
little stream. on the other side of which
are the picturesque slopes Of Combe Wood,
belonging to the Duke of Cambridge


Several li:tle ravines break the crest of
the hill, and may stand for very fair minia-
lures Of Highland glen. Standing at
the bottom, one has on each side broken
banks of gorse and the vista is closed by
the foliage of Combe Wood. For any
thing that strikes the senses. London
might be as distant as it is from Helveliyn
or Ben Lomond Indeed, the extreme
Seclusiou Of these glens recommended
them in former days as the scenes Of daelS,
at the last OF which the notorious Lord
Cardigan was performer, and he has be-
queathed the name Of Glen Cardigan to
its scene. How it comes to pass that so
much unbroken ground has still been pre-
served from the universal plague Of brick
and mortar, would be too long a story to
tell only may say that vigorous legal
battle is raging between the commoners,
who maintain their right to keep it open.
and Lord Spencer. the lord of the manor,
who is anxious to establish his right to
inclose it. Threatened by the constant
anxiety of annexing SO valuable bit of
property, and by the ambition of numerous
railways to force passage through it, it
has hitherto held its ground; perhaps,
however, its best chance of permanent
safety consists in the fact that it has been
unanimously chosen as the great meeting
ground Of our volunteers. The level
plateau does well as parade-ground. and
along the edge of the slope are erected
the butts. Missing bullets are supposed
occasionally to cross the valley. and slaugh-
ter the game in the recesses Of Combe
Wood; but till the wood is displaced by
villas, human life will not be endangered.


Hence it comes to pass that Wimbledon
Common is, at the present moment, a
place of great resort. The annual shoot
ing matches are going forward, and volun-
teers from all parts of the Kingdom are
Swarming to this centre. There is the
prize of ESQ given by the Queen for the
distinguished volunteer who will, for q
year, be the champion shot of England.
There are innumerable supplementary
prizes, given by all sorts of persons from
all sorts Of motives, from the Prince of
Wales to retail shopkeepers, and from
pure patriotism to simple desire of adver-
tising. There are matches between Eng
land, Scotland and ireland between the
Houses of Lords and Commons between
Oxford and Cambridge; and between Eton
and Harrow. There are prizes to be won
in all sorts of competitions, and with all
sorts of rifles. There are prizes for firing
as many shots as possible in a minute, for
firing at a moving object shaped like a
stag, for firing whilst running fifty yards
between each shot, and for excellence in
any other imaginable variety of competi-
tion. Now, TO my mind, there is no stu
pider sight in this world than a rife-match.
You see a gentleman lying on his stomach
for long time carefully adjusting a rife
he fires it, and you are informed that he
has done something wonderful, or the re-
verse; but when all is said, there has been
nothing to see but gentleman on his
stomach. Moreover, there are so many
competitions going on at once, that the
mind Of the ordinary civilian becomes
hopelessly bewildered, and he strays
vaguely from one butt to another, without
a guess as TO what is going on, till he reads
the results in next days newspaper. In
another way, the sight is interesting
enough. The rife-shoOting has become
the centre Of attraction for gigantic pic
mic Ii has become fashionable to camp
out on the Common, and some three
thousand men pass the time under canvas,
by way, as | suppose they intended origin
ally, of initiating themselves in the hard
ships of campaigning. If this was their
design, it was laudable, but has been rather
a failure The tents have become as lux
urious as tents can be. They are supplied
by skillful caterers from London there is
abundance to eat and drink. and plenty of
conviviality for those who do not fear the
effect upon the firmness of their nerves
The volunteers seem to be having very
jolly time of it, and they consequently
swarm in every variety of uniform. The
most popular color, owing to some trodi-
tion about rifiemeB, was a dark green,
which, at q small distance, appeared to be
positively black. A lighter gray has now
become commoner, and some OF the volun-
teers stick to the good old British scarlet
The consequence is, that a brigade Of vol
unteers presents the most singular mixture
Of col0rs conceivable, and fear that the
variety Of their dress represents only too
faithfully the heterogeneous composition
Of the force in other respects. Indeed,
walk across Wimbledon Common would
suggest to the intelligent foreigner" of
newspapers, some very obvious reflections
as to our volunteer army. In one respect
it has certainly succeeded beyond expecta-
ton. Rife-shooting has become a popular
amusement. and there are few towns Of
even moderate size which do not reckon a
certain number of enthusiastic shots among
their inhabitants Although it is regarded
with some contempt by the devotees OF
cricket, rowing, and other sports favored
by the genuine athlete, it seems to have
taken root SO kind of subsidiary amuse-
ment- In towns it has supplied very
useful recreation for the tradesmen, who
who have been very much in want Of some
open-air exercise; and the number Of
really good performers steadily increases
Considered as an army, the volunteers are
much more open to criticism. Some thirty
thousand Of them went down the other
day to grand review at Wimbledon, and,
provoked by some railway Encouragement,
they became dissolved, on their return,
sr.o n oonfuaaI on1 ohonsta rnosz Coma