The Sporting review, ed. by 'Craven'.

351

LITERATURE.

As we find we are somehow or other rather in debt with the publishers, we hasten to make a clean table of it, with a few words here and there for the several works that claim our attention.

Foremost in every way amongst these comes our friend Cecil's "STUD FARM," brought out under the good auspices of the Messrs. Longman; a firm which has now become noted for the production of neat-looking, pleasant-reading little hand-books on field-sports; to wit, "The Hunting Field," "The Cricket Field"; and so on. They have all, too, an especial eye to the instructive as well as amusing; but we speak advisedly when we say that we know none which promises to be of so much real service as this latest addition to the series. We have, perhaps, no writer so essentially practical as Cecil; as none who enters with more heart and experience into what he writes on. The stud farm is a theme just suited to his sober, sound reasoning style, while we are quite sure it is one equally adapted to his individual taste and opportunities for close observation. Residing almost continually in agricultural districts, our author has come to the conclusion that breeding well-bred stock may even yet be made to pay. With this conviction and to this end, "The Stud Farm" was penned; and we repeat that we never saw a work which more thoroughly answered the purpose for which it was intended. The whole science of breeding, crossing, rearing, and breaking-the building of paddocks-the best kind of land suited for mares and foals -the most economical, and at the same time the best description of food-these, and in short every direction the young breeder can look for or profit by, are given, in plain, concise, and most suitable language, further illustrated by cases and examples that have occurred either to Cecil himself or to some of his many acquaintance amongst sportsmen. The book is especially addressed to tenant-farmers; but there are none, we imagine, but must profit by a perusal of "The Stud Farm," calculated as it is to supersede many old and now obsolete works on the same subject.

Our next haul brings up "LE MORVAN-Its Wild Sports, Vineyards, and Forests. By Henri de Crignelle, Ancien Officier de Dragons"Translated from the original by Captain Jesse; and published, as it appears, at the instance of " a noble lady, the mother of a distinguished English nobleman," by Saunders and Otley-a very imposing recommendation, certainly, though we scarcely know whether we really stand in sufficient awe of it. Le Morvan, we are told, is a district of France, in which are included portions of the departments of the Nièvre and the Yonne, having on the west the vineyards of Burgundy, and on the east the mountains of the Nivernois. And a wonderful place it seems to be, according to the account of the Officier de Dragons, who recommends it for several reasons to the attention of English gentlemen who don't know what to do with themselves. Take this to begin with:

"And the women! heaven and earth! how sweetly pretty, how amiable and adorable! And such eyes! dark and lustrous !-full of witchcraft, burning and humid as an April sun after a shower. Some there are, also, of pensive blue, pregnant with promises, soft and almond-shaped, like the divine eyes of the Italian Cenci. Supple as the young and slender branches of willow are these divinities, fresh as new-opened tulips, and brisk and gay as

the golden-speckled trout in the sparkling current. In their charms is found a terrestrial paradise, a compound of delicious qualities which intoxicate the senses, hook the heart, and, like the bite of the Sicilian tarantella, steep the loved one in delirium.

"Yes, the women of Le Morvan are lovely, ardent, and tender-hearted as the dove, especially those who dwell within the forest districts; for nothing contributes so much to bring forth the loving principle of the affections as the silent melancholy of the umbrageous woods, and the soft and perfumed breezes that pervade them. Here, in the dusk and stillness of the summer evenings, these wood-nymphs hear in the lofty branches of the linden the endearing love-songs of the feathered tribe; and when night throws its charitable gloom over their blushing cheeks, they whisper at the trysting-place what they have heard and seen to their rustic admirers."

"Hevven an' airth," as Jonathan says, who can stop out of Le Morvan after this? Eyes pregnant with promises-forms supple and brisk as golden-speckled trout-hearts tender as doves-the silent melancholy of the umbrageous woods-blushing cheeks and rustic admirers ;-to be cut out, of course, by the Nichol-paletôt swell who is lucky enough to get there first. But this is not all the attraction, either, the true Briton will find in the forest. There are wolves to be hunted, roebuck to be stalked, wild boar to be encountered, and whole flocks of woodcock, and such small game, for a passing shot. It is rather serious work, too; at least, so the Dragon seems to think it. Hark to him again. He's well placed, and waiting for a shot; it may be a sow and pigs, thinks he; but then very naturally comes the question, If I hit them, how shall carry them off? And thus he solves it:

"Perhaps the wolves will save me the difficulty of contriving that, and dispute my title to them; perhaps they will attack me, eat me, the sow, the pigs, and my sealskin cap.

"How, I beseech you, is the following monologue to stand comparison with the fierce excitement of such anticipations? Will she come this evening, the darling?-will my sweetest be able to come?-shall I be blessed with one kiss?-shall it be on the left cheek or the right, or shall I press her lips to mine? Bah! there can be no comparison in the hunter's mind; and then you barricade yourself in your hut as evening approaches, strengthen the weak points, study the best positions, look to your arms: the day seems as if it would never close; nothing is left for you to do but to muse in the interval, and think of the poor maudlin lovers, who at this very hour are squatting under a wall like so many young apes; or of him who, half concealed, stands on the watch at the angle of a dirty street, waiting with a fluttering heart the arrival of some sentimental little chit of a girl, who is nevertheless coquette enough to keep him waiting for half an hour. And again with what disdain and contempt you regard such birds as pigeons, turtle-doves, buzzards, wild duck, and teal; hares and foxes, too, which make their appearance from time to time-to kill these never enters your head.

"What! not the fox, with his splendid bushy tail ?”

"Hevven an' airth" again! What a devil of a fellow it is to be sure! "Shall it be on the right cheek or shall it be on the left ?" We only wish we had space to give the description of the woodcock in love, and his "nuptial couch;" at any rate, we will try to find a corner for it next month.

How Captain Jesse could give his name and time to translating such extravagant nonsense as this volume chiefly consists of, fairly puzzles There is scarcely a page in it but will set a man in a roar; and for this reason, perhaps, we should return our obligations to the brace of

us.

gallant gentlemen who have contributed so much to our entertainment. Still, the Captain, at least, should know something of his countrymen's taste and style; and, instead of giving Monsieur his head, as he appears to have done, all through, might have taken a strong pull at him occasionally, if only out of respect to "the noble lady" who was bent upon publishing. May the gods see her well through it!

We have far out-run our tether as it is, and so can only spare a word in favourable notice of Mr. Richardson's " HAND-BOOK ON THE DOG;" carefully compiled, cheap in price, and done every justice to in the way of print, paper, and so on, by his publisher, Mr. Orr. Major Hall's work on the West of England must even now stand over.

PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS OF THE METROPOLIS.

The past month has been signalized by the closing of the principal theatres, many of which, it is reasonable to suppose, from having been open for an unexampled number of nights, have had an unusual degree of prosperity.

The French and American Company of Equestrians having vacated DRURY LANE, Mons. Jullien is ready to appear in the field on the 10th inst., with his numerous instrumental forces. Under such a practised general, with discipline and unanimity, a successful campaign may be looked for, particularly as the only enemy the leader will have to beat is one whose evolutions he is well acquainted withtime.

Before the closing of the LYCEUM, a piece well-adapted to the time was brought out under the title of "The Game of Speculation,' abounding in pungent and well-directed hits. Indeed, the dialogue is throughout of the most smooth and polished kind, never descending to common-place, or for once verging on the dull or insipid. The incidents are, with an exception, not of that improbable character that distinguishes modern composition. The exception alluded to is in the last act, where the hero is in his drawing-room, on the brink of ruin, whilst his runaway partner returns home; and before seeking a welcome from his friend and ally, rushes into a room on the ground floor, and finding his partner's creditors in the hall, summonses them to his presence, and discharges all their claims. Whatever amount of good nature and kindheartedness there may be in the world, surely the author's picture in this instance is rather highly coloured. The acting of Mr. Charles Mathews is all that can be desired-at once evidencing the proper perception of character essential to the development of the author's idea, whose character, by the way, of the swindling baronetis well-personified by Mr. Roxby.

Although but a step from this theatre to the ADELPHI, yet what an immeasurable distance there is between the two! In the former all is elegance and good taste: at the latter, dirt and vulgarity are the distinguishing features. A worse-contrived or more uncomfortable theatre than this hole-in-the-wall in the Strand there never was, and never could be. As for ventilation, it is quite unknown in this fiery region, where the atmosphere is more pestiferous and noisome than that of a lazar-house. Everything, it must be confessed, is in keeping; all the arrangements harmonize, there being a bad pre

eminence about the whole, disgusting to behold. Obscene allusions and indelicate jests pass current, and the intolerable coarseness of some of the performers produces loud guffaws from a not overfastidious audience, whose continual references to the gin-bottle would indicate a highly-excited state.

After an unsuccessful season at the ST. JAMES's, the Bateman Children have left for Scotland. The performances of these juveniles, like all other "prodigies" in tragedy, are absurdly ridiculous; but in the comedietta of "The Young Couple," it must be owned the Batemans appear to advantage. The talent they evince in this amusing translation from. the French is of an unusual order: the readiness to seize any incident wherewith they can produce mirth is observable in both; besides, in the little Ellen there is a playfulness of humour and happiness of style that render her assumptions particularly amusing.

STATE OF THE ODDS, &c.

At a meeting of the Jockey Club, held on Wednesday in the Second October Meeting, the following gentlemen were elected members of the club, viz., Lord Burghley, Marquis of Waterford, Gerard Sturt, Esq., and Lord Ribblesdale. It was proposed by Col. Peel, and resolved

"That the words enter and' be omitted in No. 40 of the Rules concerning horse-racing in general."

Proposed by Capt. Rous, and resolved

"That in No. 64 of the Rules and Orders of the Jockey Club the words unless he be two clear lengths' be substituted for the words 'even though he be a clear length.'

The Derby betting of the month has been very little, and very uninteresting; the cause, of course, being the prior claims of the Cesarewitch and Cambridgeshire. Of the horses found in our list, Daniel O'Rourke, previous to his signal defeat for the Criterion, enjoyed most favour-or at least most attention. There has been comparatively little doing on the crack; while Elcot and Kingston still rank about even the defeat of the former being softened down "under the circumstances." We do not know that we can force another remark on so scanty a theme.