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"With all this mystery attending the common concerns of the stable, and every precaution and suspicion redoubled when any thing is amiss there, a young man must be well known before he is employed; and many a plant being set upon him, he must have a great deal of self-command and prudence if he does not sometimes say a word or two too much, and which may be misunderstood and perverted in a way that he could not dream of.

"But, supposing that he possesses all this self-command, neither the groom nor the owner will give him credit for it. They will bestow on him very little of their confidence until they have tried him; and a long time may pass, and his little patrimony be spent, before he will have the opportunity to shew that he may be trusted.

"The veterinary surgeon is fond of the horse: he cannot be a good surgeon if he is not. If he does not embark in his profession, and carry on his profession con amore, he is good for nothing. He loves to talk of, and to witness the powers and energies of the horse; and, placed among those whose sole pleasure and whose bread depend upon the speed and the stoutness of the horse-who have more or less to do with every exhibition and trial of him, and who, from the Peer to the groom, has each his betting-book -it will be very difficult for the young practitioner to refrain from now and then sporting a little on the issue of some events......if he does, his doom is sealed beyond redemption; for he has to do with those who think everything fair to accomplish their purpose who are perfectly aware of, and ready

to resort to any manoeuvre (others would say rascality) to effect their objects, and be on the right side of the post. They will judge of the veterinary surgeon by themselves and by all around them, and will conclude that he, too, may be disposed to do a little to make himself right; and that, therefore, he is a dangerous person to be admitted into their sanctum sanctorum, except he should be on their side; and, even then, they well know that it is possible to win a great deal by apparently losing a little.

"These are few of the circumstances which render it difficult for a young man to establish himself in a place like Newmarket. The old farrier (who, it seems, has pretty well feathered his nest), and Mr. Bowles-who lives at a distance, and the heyday of whose blood is now pretty well subdued-and his son, profiting by the example, and practising all the prudence and caution of his father, they may succeed. The experience of a long series of years has proved that they may be trusted; but confidence, and confidence under such circumstances, will not be forced; it must be the slow growth of careful observation. A new and a young man may not have sufficient patience to wait until the fruit is matured; or, if he be not a man of a thousand, the fruit may be suddenly blighted by some incautious but venial error.

"Without, therefore, any impeachment of the character of our profession, we may cease to be surprised that no young veterinarian has succeeded there. had not sufficiently considered the difficulties which he would have to encounter; he was not aware

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of the dangers which beset him on every side, and of the cold, reserved, apparently repulsive demeanour which it would sometimes be necessary for him, although most unwillingly, to adopt."

I have quoted rather more from Mr. Youatt's pages than I had at first intended, but the whole of the foregoing remarks bear so forcibly on the subject, that I could not agree to lose any part of what appears to me so pertinent and so well worth preserving. We have seen now a few of the causes which operate against the establishment of a veterinary surgeon at Newmarket-causes which could have existed in prejudice alone and the lack of discrimination, as I have before hint ed, between the exploded, vulgar, and ignorant "farrier," and the high-minded, educated, and scientific professor of the veterinary

art of the present day-in fact, the advantage of having, in such a place as Newmarket, some one at hand in any emergency, whose advice can be depended on, and whose secrecy and honour are alike sacred-must, if weighed against the petty scruples and paltry prejudices which still exist, speedily put to flight any doubts on the subject; and owners of race-horses will be ready to place themselves in the hands of any member of the profession who may present himself, qualified for the task, not only by a profound and intimate knowledge of the animal whose condition he is to meliorate, but also from having the experience of former failures before him, to be enabled to unite diligence in his profession with the deepest sense of honour, secrecy, and fidelity to his employers.

THE YOUNG FORESTER.

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as a brau day; but which we more haps lays its wearer by the heels

for ten days, is what I must beg to decline. Ye Gods! in future punish your wicked servant when he travels with anything but a drizzling rain. Nevertheless, on the day I mention, a drizzling rain it was from morning even until night; and it was with a feeling of pleasure unknown to any but the weary traveller that I found myself, at six o'clock, seated in one of the apartments of the Royal Hotel, Plymouth, by a blazing fire, with candles lighted, boots off, and a busy waiter bustling about, performing the double duty of laying the cloth and retailing the Plymouth scandal.

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The Royal Hotel is large, and handsomely furnished, but is deficient in what far surpasses splendour-comfort. The garçons all want drafting; and I should really feel obliged to Mr. Whiddon (who has the patronage of all the gentlemen of his county) if he would build fresh stables; those he has are miserable things. The hospitality of the Royal Hotel, however, I was not destined to try much; for Mr. Charles Trelawney, of Colrinnick, with that liberality which is ever to be found amongst the well-born English, and which I have experienced from every gentleman whom I have met, from Somerset to Cornwall, and which I should be ungrateful not to mention when I speak of them, kindly insisted on my dining with him while I remained: and two as delightful evenings as good company and good claret can make, I did spend there. Mr. Trelawney has a fortune of 15,0001. a year, which he knows how to spend. He has an excellent house at Ply mouth, besides the beautiful place called Colrinnick, Proofs of the

master passion figure on the walls of his rooms, in the shape of portraits of some of the best tits that ever lifted a leg at the market. He is a great advocate for blood, and will have something that can stride a bit, which he runs at the provincial meetings. This year I see he is entered for the Saltram and other Stakes at Plymouth.

Plymouth, by the bye, is not what it once was: the piping times of peace have altered its aspect wonderfully. No smart young officer, enjoying the dolce far niente, ere the Blue Peter summons him to take a long, perchance a last, adieu of his native land, now parades its streets; no drums or fifes are heard ; no clodpoles, having just bartered their liberty for one day's glory, marched in intoxicating joy about itall these have vanished with war's alarms; and but for its harbour, its shipping, and the jolly blue jackets who roll about the town, a stranger would hardly believe it to have been so intimately connected with such a sanguinary trade. But Plymouth, though in is still a very gay different place. Instead of smart officers, there are young and pretty women to be seen; and women as perfectly being mise as any Parisian would wish to see. It has its theatre, too, where the Foote, in her younger days, was wont to entrance the world; and Assemblies, little inferior, either in beauty or fashion, to Almack's itself. In fact, ever since the countenance of our present Sovereign (then Duke of Clarence) condescended to shed its beams on Plymouth, it has been the time of day, the thing, the go-in one emphatic word, the fashion.

a

way,

A lover of Nature, rather than gaiety, might spend many a contemplative hour on the Hooe, which, though in the midst of a populous town, affords a magnificent view. Threading my way home from Mr. Trelawney's one evening, I found myself chewing the cud of sweet and bitter fancy on this spot. The busy hum of man had ceased, and no earthly sound broke the stillness of the night, save the measured step of the centinel; but the heavens, whose vast expanse no philosophy can pierce, were grand indeed. The wind howled dismally, and the stars, flashing out at intervals as the dark clouds hurried past, shewed the great waters of the sea, foaming and tossing with terrific grandeur; while the guns of a distant vessel, which had lost her track, vibrating mournfully on the ear, as if imploring that aid no human hand could offer, formed a picture at once awful and sublime.

The beautiful description of a tempestuous night, left us by that divine bard, over whose early grave the Muses weep, whose melancholy death his country and posterity must ever deplore, naturally occurred to me;—

"The sky is changed! and such a change! -oh, Night,

And storm, and darkness, ye are wond'rous strong,

Yet lovely in your strength, as is the light Of a dark eye in woman! Far along, From peak to peak, the rattling crags Leaps the live thunder!

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in the cloud," when the air, and the earth, and the water obey in an instant His high behestare ready at a nod to destroy whom and what He pleases, and can as quickly at that nod sink into peace-how little does man, and his all-engrossing occupations, appear!

For my part, the next morning's hunt, about which I had previously been so full of high anticipations, was now absolutely forgotten; or, if remembered, with regret that I should suffer a mere amusement to form the chief thought of my existence; and I retired to my pillow full of melancholy ideas of the vanity of all human delights. But,

"The morn is up again, the dewy morn, With breath all incense, and with check

all bloom,

scorn,

Laughing the clouds away with playful And living as if earth contained no tomb, And glowing into day; we may resume The march of our existence.

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And I confess, when the cheerful sounds of the morning met my ear, and the smiling beams of the sun stole through my curtains, I felt very much inclined to resume mine; so sending my philosophy to the right about, I jumped up, and forthwith mounted the scarlet. The wants of the outward and inward man both satisfied, I was soon on the road to the fixture, Slade (Mr. Pode's residence), some eight miles on the Exeter road, where I was greeted by the animating sight of a group of scarlets, and nineteen couple of dogs, all determined to "do or dee."

After waiting a few minutes for all our workmen to muster, we commenced operations by drawing the Slade and neighbouring coverts, not

so much

with the expectation of finding there, as to make our way good to the most likely preserves. At length Mr. Bulteel, or the Squire (as he is called), cast his hounds over a torr skirting Dartmoor, when up sprung a challenge, and I was in great hopes something would be done; but pug was no hero, and preferred stealing into the friendly shades of the adjoining woods to facing his enemies like a trump. This mode of warfare, however, suited not the spirit of the Governor: he was resolved to dislodge the varmint, and for that purpose planted his forces in a hanging wood hard by, where we had scarcely taken up our position, when Dairymaid told us we were on the right scent; her companions caught the note, and in a moment the air resounded with the merry music. Pug at first pointed downwards, but immediately changed his mind, turned back under his pursuers, and went slap away to the open. Here the Squire, knowing the first hit is half the battle, crammed his hounds for ten minutes at a rattling pace, and 'twas (as Kernes Fitzpatrick, the blind piper, would say)— "Hoicks! wind him, and find him, and drive him!-push the red rascal through the deep coverts!-hoicks! on him, on him, tear him, and eat him!" when, unfortunately, as we got into the high and deep country, a drenching shower came on, the scent decreased, and a check was the consequence. Mr. Bulteel here made a cast, and the bells of the trusty ones starting up, brought us on to Shawe Wood, one of the deepest and thickest coverts in the West.

well, when, as on this occasion, the scent is indifferent and the coverts heavy; but it is not always judicious, as such spinning work obliges the varmint to dodge for wind, and so not unfrequently gets chopped. I am an advocate always for letting hounds settle well on their fox; it makes them stoop, and carry a good head throughout the piece. By this means your game gets heart, and travels his best, up to what a lad of the Fancy would call his "second wind.” More is lost by cramming hounds at first than sportsmen are aware of; for the instant "check" is the word, they become winded, and unable to pick along after their prey sharply; when a steadygoing pace throughout would have brought them through with eclat: hounds, too, that are pushed forward in this way are very apt to be at a dead stop when difficul ties are before them.

Mais revenons à nos rénards. The gentleman in question tried hard to make a stop of it, and hung back for some time. In the mean while another fox went off, and the pack divided, so that he began to think himself quite safe: but his pursuers had no intention of being foiled in any such way: they stuck like leeches to his brush, and finally had the satisfaction of carrying him handsomely through an opposite very thick coppice, and off to the open, where he became much fagged. The scent as the evening advanced grew faint, and although Mr. Bulteel persevered in the most gallant manner, it was a fruitless endeavour: the division of his hounds was against him; fresh foxes were roused; and the chase at length terminated by the light of the stars. I forget if the

This mode of cramming is very
VOL. V-SECOND SERIES.-No. 25,

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