in the genteci phrase of the day--" an attic!" but the plain sort of folks, or rather, the intelligible creatures, would have given it its proper name, a GARRET! the usual high abode of Scribblers!" But no matter," observed Pry, "whether it be a Cloud capt Tower;' or a 'Garret!' if I could pun, I should call it one of the flights of Genius, and say that your place of residence is one of the highest things in Society. But, are you not for Life and a Curricle ?" "Most certainly I am," was my reply but how? Better, it is said, to be born fortunate than rich. True! The above proverb may suit very well the lucky folks of this world. But, in answer to that old adage-I think it is much better at all times to be born rich than poor! However, as you and I are amongst the proverbs-a kind of 'argufying the topic!' I will proceed with one or two of them, in order to come at something near the truth on the subject. It might be asked how many persons are born under a thruppenny planet, never to become worth a groat? in spite of all their great talents, wit, skill, ability, and speculations-and, by' way of a wind-up to their exertions, end in a WHEREAS! But then we are told that Riches do not always bring happiness with them :-Indeed, I must admit that there is a "bit of good truth" attached to the last remark; but as a set-off against it-'a FAT sorrow,' in the opinion of most of my friends, is much better than a lean one. I am quite aware that there are golden drops attached to grief

for the demise of a rich relative CORINTHIAN; as well as the real tears of sorrow for a substantial, never-to-be-forgotten loss of a sincere friend. And granted that RICHES do not always bring happiness with them, yet it cannot be denied that in obtaining real happiness a great deal must always depend on the conduct and mind of the individual in the possession of riches; Shakspeare tells us that—

Poor, and content, is rich-and rich enough i

It is true that Gold-" here my friend, Pau: Pry, observed "Pierce, my dear boy, you are preaching! Surely you do not want a pulpit just yet! You have not had a call! I tell you that I am for Life and a Curricle; and if I had one at my door I would roar out to the echo that would answer again-" That's your sort!" and my Paulina vows that she would have the best that could be got in the Acre if I could stand it; or, in other words, if the coachmaker would stand it. Do not riches enable the Corinthian to get over the ground with pleasure to himself and advantage to society? Does he not possess the Key to every thing that he fancies?-A fig for your moralizing, philosophy-or call it what you will. I would be a Corinthian to the end of the chapter, if I could-but the truth is, I was not lucky enough to have been born a Swell, although I made my way into the world like the great duke of Buckingham, without a shirt to my back; therefore, my dear boy,

drop all your proverbs, metaphors, your this, THAT, and the other-it is all gammon. I beg pardon if I have not used a stylish phrase, but to me it conveys a very important meaning, and, I flatter myself, perfectly intelligible, from the Countess to Billingsgate Fan, therefore I again say, drop it, and talk like yourself." "My worthy, communicative friend," said I, "accept my best thanks: perhaps you are right after all, and, without any further prelude, I have only to remark-Melton Mowbray is in view, and behold;—

The lad of mettle! off to the Chase,
Quickly girds his belt on;

A tip-top SWELL," with ruddy face-
True PICTURE of a MELTON.

His horse a picture-and his hounds-
The Fox-soon after her;

With courage high, he knows no bounds,
A true "OUT-AND-OUTER!"

"Have at him there," holloas the Squire
The Gorse all in a rout-

The hounds on scent-full of desire
To turn sly Reynard out!

The sport being o'er-dinner time-
With joy he fills his glass,

And toasting all, in Life, that's prime ;
First-his faithful lass!

Then, thus it is-his Time doth fly!
Hunting, racing, shooting!
At ev'ry thing, he has a shy-

On Sporting Points-mooting.

With deference to the "Editor of the Quarterly Review," we think there was not the slightest necessity for any apology, or the display of something like squeamishness on his part, for his review on the "Remarks on the Condition of Hunters, the choice of Horses and their Management, &c., by Nimrod," who observes; Under such circumstances, we hope the readers of our journal will not accuse us of any unpardonable trespass, if we now and then permit ourselves to be seduced inti a little discussion on a class of subjects with which, hitherto, we have very rarely inter fered." The Sporting World, at the present moment, constitutes a great feature in Society, and its movements, in general, are read with

deep interest and pleasure: such being our well-known ide is upon the subject-we offer no apology to the subscribers to the "Book OF SPORTS, for making an extract from the following well-written article; and we also

feel assured that our numerous readers will not entertain an opinion that we have inserted one line of it too much :

"And so, without further preface, let us for once sympathize with what even Milton calls an unreproved pleasure:

'Listening how the hounds and horn,
Cheerly rouse the slumbering morn,
From the side of some hoar hill,
Through the high wood echoing shrill.'

In various old writers-the Muyster of the game, for instance, we find lively pictures of the ancient English chase, which in many respects, no doubt, was of a more noble and manly nature than that of the present day.

ould be dispensed with, without the frequent recurrence of blank-days, which now seldom happen.

Compared with the luxurious ease with which the modern sportsman is conveyed to the field-either lolling in his chaise and four, or galloping along at the rate of twenty miles an hour, on a hundred guinea hack-the situation of his predecessor was all but distressing. In proportion to the distance he had to ride by star-light, were his hours of rest broken in upon; and, exclusive of the time which that operation might consume, another serious one was to be provided for. This was the filling his hair with powder and pomatum until it could hold no more, and forming it into a well-turned knot, or club, as it was called by his valet, which cost commonly a good hour's work. The protecting mud-boot, the cantering hack, the second horse in the field, were luxuries unknown to him; and his well-soiled buckskins, and brown topped boots, would have cut an indifferent figure in the presence of a modern connoisseur by a Leicestershize cover-side. Notwithstanding all this, however, we are inclined strongly to suspect that out of a given number of gentleinen taking the field with hounds, the proportion of really scientific sportsmen may have been in favour of the olden times.

In the horse called the hunter, a still greater change has taken place. The half-bred horse of the early part of the last century was, when highly broken to his work, a delightful animal to ride, in many respects more accomplished as a hunter, than the generality of those of the present day. When in his best form, he was a truly-shaped and powerful animal, possessing prodigious strength, with a fine commanding frame, considerable length of neck, a slight curve in his crest, which was always high and firm, and the head beautifully put on. Possessing these advantages, in addition to very great pains taken with his mouth in the bitting, and an excellent education in the school or at the bar, he was what is termed a complete snaffle-bridle horse, and a standing as well as a flying leaper. Held well in hand -his rider standing up in the stirrups, holding him fast by the head, making the best of, and being able to pick or choose his groundsuch a horse would continue a chase of some hours' duration at the pace he was called upon to go, taking his fences well and safely to the last; and he would frequently command the then large sum of one hundred guineas. But all these accomplishments would never have enabled a horse of this description to carry the modern sportsman, who rides well up to hounds, on a good scenting-day, over one of our best hunting countries. His strength would be exhausted before he had gone ten minutes by the increased pace at which he must be called upon to travel, but to which his breeding would be quite unequal; and his true symmetry, his perfect fencing, his fine mouth, and all his other points, would

prove of very little avail if ridden close to the hounds, he would be powerless and dangerous before he had gone across half a dozen Leicestershire enclosures.

The increased pace of hounds, and that of the horses that follow them, have an intimate connexion with each other, if not with the march of intellect. Were not the hounds of our day to go so fast as they do, they would not be able to keep clear of the crowd of riders who are now mounted on horses nearly equal to the racing pace. On the other hand, as the speed of the hounds has so much increased, unless their followers ride speedy, and, for the most part, thorough-bred horses, they cannot see out a run of any continuance, if the scent lies well. True it is, that at the present time, every Leicestershire hunter is not thorough-bred, but what is termed the cock-tail, or half-bred horse of this day, is a very different animal from that of a hundred years back. In those days a cross between the thorough-bred, or perhaps not quite thorough-bred horse, and the common draught mare, was considered good enough to produce hunters equal to the speed of the hounds then used. There was not such an abundance of what may be termed the intermediate variety of the horse in the country-'pretty well-bred on each side of the head'-which has of late years been in demand for the fast coaches of England, in which low-bred horses have no chance to live. Mares of this variety, put to thorough-bred stallions, and their produce crossed with pure blood, create the sort of animal that comes now under the denomination of the half-bred English hunter, or cocktail. These are also the horses which contend for our several valuable stakes, made for horses not thorough-bred, though, when brought to the post, they are sometimes so much like race-horses in their appearance and their pace, that it would be difficult to detect the blot in their pedigree. A prejudice long existed against thorough-bred horses for the field, particularly such as had once been trained to the course; and in some quarters it still lingers. It is argued by their opponents that the thinness of their skins makes them afraid of rough blackthorn fences, and that they lose their speed in soft, or what, in sporting language, is termed deep ground: also that having been accustomed from their infancy to the jockey's hand, they lean upon their bits, as when in a race, and are therefore unpleasant to ride. Such of them as have been long in training may undoubtedly be subject to these objections, and never become good and pleasant hunters; but when purchased young, and possessing strength and bone, they must have many counterbalancing advantages over the inferior-bred horse. So far from not making good leapers, the firmness of bone and muscle, peculiar to this variety of the breed, is prodigiously in favor of that desirable qualification. Indeed, it has been truly said of them, that they can often leap

large fences when lower-bred horses cannot leap smaller ones-the result of their superior wind, when put to a quick pace. Whoever wishes to see two distinct species of the horse in the most perfect state, should go to Newmarket and Melton Mowbray-to the former for the race-horse, to the latter for the hunter. In no place upon the earth is condition attended to with so much care, or managed with such skill, as in this renowned metropolis of the fox-hunting world. Indeed, we conceive it would be useless to expect horses to live with hounds in such a country as Leicestershire, unless they were in condition to enable them to contend for a plate. Melton Mowbray generally contains from two to three hundred hunters, in the hands of the most experienced grooms England can produce-the average number being ten to each sportsman residing there, although some of those who ride heavy, and rejoice in long purses, have from fourteen to twenty for their own use. The stud of the Earl of Plymouth has, for many years, exceeded the last mentioned number. It may seem strange, that one man should, under any circumstances, need so large a number of horses solely for his personal use in the field; and it must be admitted, that few countries do require it.

In Leicestershire, however, the universal practice is for each sportsman to have at least two hunters in the field on the same day,-a practice found to be economical, as it is from exhaustion, the effect of long continued severe work, that the health of horses is most injured; and when it is also borne in mind, that hounds are to be reached from Melton, Leicester, &c., every day in the week, that one horse out of six, in every man's stud, is, upon an average, lame, or otherwise unfit for work,and that a horse should always have five days rest after a moderate, and at least seven or eight after a severe run with hounds,-it will seem not surprising that ten or twelve hunters should be deemed an indispensable stud for a regular Leicestershire sportsman.

The stables, and other conveniences for hunters in the town and neighbourhood, are upon a very superior scale; and the greater part of the studs remain there all the year round-though from the comparatively small quantity of arable land in the county of Leicester, and the very great demand for forage, oats and hay are always considerably dearer here than at any other place in England. The sum total of expences attending a stud of twelve hunters at Melton, including every outgoing, is, as nearly can be estimated, one thousand pounds per annum. In all stables, the outlay for the purchase of horses is great, at least two hundred guineas each hunter; and, in some, the annual amount of wear and tear of horse flesh is considerable.

At no distant date, within almost twentyfive years, Melton Mowbray was an insignificant looking little town. It is prettily situated in a rich vale, through which the river

Stoure passes; but had nothing an artist would have called a feature about it, except its beautiful church. But of late it has put on a very different appearance, owing to the numbers of comfortable houses which have been erected for the accommodation of its sporting visitors, who now spend not less, on an average, than 50,000l. per annum on the spot. It' stands on one of the great north roads, 'eighteen miles from Nottingham, and fifteen from Leicester, which latter place is also become a favorite resort of sportsmen, as it is well situated for the best part of the Quorn, and Lord Lonsdale's countries; and many of the favorite covers of the Átherstone (lately better known as Lord Anson's) country can be reached from it.

The following description of the Old Club, at Melton Mowbray, so called in contradistinction to the New Club, some time since broken up, is given in the 'Sporting Magazine :'

"The grand feature at Melton Mowbray is the Old Club, which has been established about thirty-eight years, and owes its birth to the following circumstances :-Those distinguished sportsmen, the late Lord Forrester, and Lord Delamere (then Messrs. Forrester and Cholmondeley,) had been living for some years at Loughborough, for the purpose of hunting with Mr. Meynell, and removed thence into Melton, where they took a house, and were joined by the late Mr. Smythe Owen, of Condover Hall, Shropshire. As this house, now known as the Old Club-house, only contains four best bed-rooms, its members are restricted to that number; but the following sportsmen have, at different periods, belonged to the club. The Hon. George Germaine, now Lord Sackville; Lords Alvanley and Brudenell; the Hon. Joshua Vanneck, now Lord Huntingfield; the Hon. Berkeley Craven; the late Sir Robert Leighton; the late Mr. Meyler; Messrs. Brommell, Vansittart, Tho

mas

Asheton Smith, Lindow, Langston, Maxse, Maher, Moore, Sir James Musgrave, and the present Lord Forrester; the four last mentioned gentlemen forming the present club. There is something highly respectable in every thing connected with the Melton Old Club. Not only is some of the best society in England to be met with in their circle, but the members have been remarkable for living together on terms of the strictest harmony and friendship; and a sort of veneration has been paid by them to the recollection of the former members, as the following anecdotes will prove :-The same plate is now in use which was purchased when the club was established (for there are none of the 'certamina divitiarum’—no ostentatious displays at the table of the Old Club, though every thing is as good, of its kind, as a first rate cook can produce, and the wines are of the best quality,) and even trifles are regarded with a scrupulous observance. A small print of the late Samuel Chifney, on Baronet,'