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188 . THE LEADE&. |~Ko. 413, February 20...
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NEW NOVELS. Margaret * Hamilton: a Novel...
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PUBLICATIONS AND REPUBLICATIONS. W» mere...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Sporting In Both Hemispheres. Sjiorting ...
scribes to have been at the confluence of a brook with the river , in front of the noble old Elizabethan , mansion at Charlcote Park . The Squire of Charlcote , says Mr . D'Ewes , was the wonder and amusement of the country round . He excluded all visitors from the hall , living there * like hermit poor / on the venison and wild rabbits of its spacious park . Although a clergyman by profession , and educated at Oxford , he indulged in the most extraordinary liberties with the Queen ' s vernacular . Once a vear—and once only—he issued to the surrounding gentry cards of invitation to what he styled * a cold collection ; ' when calling attention to the ancestral portraits suspended round the walls of the apartment , he regularly introduced them to his visitors with the following remarkable speech : " These , ladies and gentlemen , are my postasses . " Passing a summer on the coast , it was his boast that he had evaded the knavish designs of hotel and lodging-house keepers upon the wealthy Lord of Charlcote , by travelling ' in a cog . ' A poor exiled Frenchman resided in his village , quietly pursuing the profession of an artist . By the joint warrant of the then Lord Warwick—another Dogberry—and his own , he commits him to prison under the conviction that he had caged the conqueror of Marengo in disguise . Young D'Ewes , desirous of propitiating this second Master ShalloAV , used to introduce himself and basket , stored with an offering of pike and perch newly taken from the brook , exactly at noon , by a modest ring at the hall bell . A matronly serving woman conducted Mm to the parlour , where sat the lord and lady
of Charlcote , discussing a dish of deer ' s fry , and he was always invited to partake . Then followed a glass of home-made wine , a present of sixpence for schoolboy disbursement , and what the little fisherman prized more than all , unreserved permission to explore every nook and corner of the beautiful stream that meandered through the park , and the green meadows beyond , which was the object of his visit . " Peace be to their manes !'' adds the recipient of these hospitalities . " Their memory is associated with some of the happiest moments of my life ; and although the mysterious economy of the old hall has been replaced by the profuse and noble expenditure of the present race , and errant schoolboys are no longer free to poach in the preserves , or lunch on deer ' s fry with its proprietor , still there is a lingering charm about the olden time of , which no modern magnificence can
dispel . ** Being appointed to an Indian cadetship , he was stationed at Wallajjabad , where the swamps and paddy fields afford the best snipe shooting in the Madras Presidency . Four different species of this description of game are found in India : the large or solitary snipe , nearly the size of a woodcock ; the common full snipe ; the painted snipe , rather larger , of beautiful dark , variegated plumage , slow of flight ,, and not much esteemed for the table ; and the jack , or half snipe . An indifferent shot may bag from twenty-five to fifty couple during the morning ' s shooting , ' washing out his gun as often as it becomes heated , and restoring his own energies with a little cold brandy pawnee . ' An instinctive dread of snakes mars his enjoyment of these sporting rambles . The hideous cobra , so frightfully domestic in its habits , often
creeps into the officers' beds , and is met with coiled up on the stone steps of their quarters ; and once being pitched off his pony , that fell in leaping a nullah , or ditch , on gathering himself up , D'JEwes saw a cobra capella sneaking off within a few yards from the spot where he lay . A drunken soldier confined in the black-hole , felt as he lay stretched upon the straw something gliding over him , which from its movements he well knew to be a snake . He dared not move , or touch it with his fingers . The reptile having crept up to his breast , insinuated itself beneath his military undress jacket , and curled itself up comfortably to repose . With a nervous system debilitated by habitual intemperance , the soldier endured hours of mental torture , knowing that every attempt to free himself from his dreadful position would be at the risk of life . The period of his confinement having expired , and
the door when thrown open admitting a strong glare of sunlight , the cobra hastily glided from its nest to an obscure corner of the prison . The man rushed out , a deplorable picture of emaciation and terror . His hair , which twenty-four hours previously had been of a dark colour , had turned perfectly grey , and he died in a few weeks . Among the wild animals infesting the neighbourhood of Visiapoor , are numberless hyenas , and Mr . D'Ewes witnessed a curious proof of the toughness of that animal's hide . A hyena had been seen to enter a hole in some ruins , and a shikaree volunteered for a trifling recompense to either catch the beast , or cause it to .. bolt from its , lair , as we pleased . He commenced operations by making a second opening in the earth , whence a low growl was heard , and a large duinmel gundy made his appearance at the mouth of the
bole , from wnicu he natt no sooner projected nan me usngiu o » ms uouy than several spears were thrown or poked at him , but which , although sharp as penknives , bounded off his hide like ; a racket-ball , and had only the effect of accelerating his pace when he emerged into daylight . The author on another occasion planted a hog-spear , sharpened to the finest edge , right between the shoulders of one no hud ridden down on the plains near Jaulnah , without being able to pjerce the impenetrable hide , and was glad , after the experiment , to make off himself . On his return to Europe , he visited France , to enjoy the chase of the stag and wild boar in the royal hunting establishments adjacent to Paris , then under the able superintendence of M . le Comte de Girardin . He says that
his first excursion to mingle in these sylvan pastimes was in company with ft well-known English sportsman and master of hounds , George Templar , of Devonshire . Hunting during July—a Pnria July—greatly outraged the English prejudices of Templar ; but he made up his mind when at Korao to ^ QhitneJnjwUhJ ^ pJSojwnng . iJ * oJ * ° , ^ forcd a jl ° * se to ^ ° brought to him at Armanvilliers , the ' appointed reiidez-vow de chasse " . No " * h " orse ~ how _ flver-arrivedy and , steadily refusing to accept one of those belonging to his friends , he resolved to hunt on foot , convinced ho knew how to see as much of the chase an the best-mounted cavalier out that day . " With a thorough contempt for the artificial aid of dress , and in sober contradistinction to the bright scarlet coats und gaudy trappings of the French sportsmen , ho was attired in a full suit of black , and but for the jovial expression of his countenance and tho merry twinkle of his eye , looked far more like a wellconditioned member of tho Established Church than what ho really was—
perhaps the best practical sportsman in England . The hunted deer usually -made for a large piece of water in the forest , and thither the author and his party turned their horses' heads . Tha approaching sounds of the music of the pack and the horns of the picqueurs , showed they were in the right track , and on arriving within sight of the efang , the first object , that met their eyes was the stag nobly breasting the waves with the whole pack in full cry after him . On the bank stood George Templar , mopping his bead and good-humoured countenance , which the sun and exercise had tinged with " the deepest vermilion , and giving the death halloo with the intonation of a true British sportsman . Presently Monseigneur rode up , and " requested to be informed who was the individual in black , whose voice woke the echoes of the forest and could be heard even above the noise of the French horns . Upon being told he was one of the most celebrated masters of hounds in England , he treated him with much courtesy , lar informed him that the huntsmen
and was greatly amused when Temp and picqueurs whom he had frequently met in his short cuts on foot through the woods ( guided by the wind and his own thorough knowledge of the chase ) , had taken him for an English priest—unprelre anglais—and had interpreted one or two British hunting halloos which he could not refrain , as vociferous benedictions or loud curses upon the sport he was pursuing . " This was in the time of Charles X ., who spent a great portion of the latter years of his reign in hunting and shooting at Fontainebleau and St . Cloud . It was at the close of an unsuccessful chase at Rambouillet , and after the king had returned to the latter place ,, as he stood looking towards the * Avenue de Paris , ' that the Comte de Girardin , the chief huntsman , suddenly directed his attention to a courier advancing at full gallop down the Avenue . Charles X . remained motionless . In another minute he was at the King's feet . Every eye turned on him with a look of mournful inquiry . The courier muttered only a few words . He had brought the news from Paris , of July 26 th , 1830 , five minutes p . m . The Ordonnances had been promulgated , and the revolution was begun .
We give but a very cursory analysis of this book , which may serve as a guide to those readers who desire to combine an economical residence on the Continent with unlimited hunting , shooting , and angling . Brittany , Huy , on the Meuse , Offenburg , and several portions of Germany , seem to possess these desirable requisites . Mr . D'Ewes also travelled and sported in Australia and China .
188 . The Leade&. |~Ko. 413, February 20...
188 . THE LEADE & . |~ Ko . 413 , February 20 , 1858 .
New Novels. Margaret * Hamilton: A Novel...
NEW NOVELS . Margaret * Hamilton : a Novel . By Mrs . C . J . Newby .. 3 vols . ( Bentley . ) —Margaret Hamilton is an interesting novel , and Mrs . Newby writes with great vivacity ; but the book has one serious defect . It is false as a view of life . Regarding it from only one point of view , as it bears—which it does strongly- —on the question of frugal marriages , we must say that if Mrs . Newby ' s icjea of household economy were not absurd , happiness would be impossible among persons with incomes of less than a thousand a year . It is fair to acknowledge that we are turning a scapegoat into , the desert , and that Mrs . Newby has had many predecessors in the sin of disclaiming all practical acquaintance with poor people ; but young readers are apt to be impressed by the teachings of the circulating library , and it is necessary at times to suggest that the reports of novelists upon society must be received with some reserve . We had , not long ago , a romance from a
fashionable lady ' s pen , which depicted the miseries of a married couple with one child on five hundred a year . Tney lived on black chops , scrags of mutton , and potatoes ; when they attempted a dinner party everything was dark , greasy , and unwholesome . The husband walked hungry from hi 3 club and the wife was compelled at Christmas to turn an ancient silk gown , which was her only stock and store Of that material . All this has a very -vicious effect , and Mrs . Newby , if not among the worst specimens of the preachers in derision of poverty , is unconsciously , in the same sense , a bad instructor . It is true that her theme is virtue battling against a cold , proud , and rich world ; but mark how she distributes a salary of 130 / . a year , the income Of a broken banker who has been forced to accept a clerkship and live in Islington : rent , 321 . ; taxes and rates , 8 / . ; housekeeping , 521 . ' Fred's schooling and other necessary expenses , ' 231 . ; and Mary's wages , ' 15 / . ! The little family has to limit its bread-and-butter , to make fourteen
cups of tea out of two spoonfuls , to * bring Fred ' s appetite within compass , and to suffer occasional ' hunger and faintness . ' Margaret eats * as little as possible , ' and denies herself * the temptingly thick slice of bread-and-butter . ' Apart from these exaggerations the story of Margaret Hamilton is wholesome and entertaining . Uncle Ralph : a Tale . By the Author of 4 Dorothy , ' * Still Waters , ' & o . ( J . W . Parker and Son . )—We have in Uncle Ralph a very good example of romantic family history . The writer has not a perplexed plot to disentangle , and seldom forces a startling incident into her narrative , though there are situations sufficiently striking to carry the reader along ; but she paints a large group , in which every figure ia naturally and distinctly individualized . This skill in tho delineation of character is her principal merit , accompanied as it is by a tender and touching sympathy with all that asks for affection and for charity in human life . Wo think Uncle Ralph will become a general favourite .
Publications And Republications. W» Mere...
PUBLICATIONS AND REPUBLICATIONS . W » merely announce this week the publication by Messrs , Longman anu Co . of Essays , Biographical , Historical , and Miscellaneous , contributed chiefly toHhe ~ Edinburgh ~ and ~ QuartcrXy-Menim & i ^ yJh * J ^ R- Gleig . Mr . Gleig statqs that they form but a fragment of the essays the nutlrdrship-ot which he would be entitled to claim . , The Children * s Bower ( Longmans ) , so fur as wo may judgo by a first ana rapid glanco at its pages , appears to bo as full of fine feeling , delicate ana subtle fancy , rich , and various learning , scholarly refinement , and high chivalrous spirit , as all tho former works of Mr . Kenelm H . Digby , wuo ( albeit a Catholic ) is , to our thinking , certain peculiarities apart , one of tho most graceful and gonial of guides , philosophers , and friends . Ho conducts
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 20, 1858, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_20021858/page/20/
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