"A CASE IN POINT."

ENGRAVED BY E. HACKER, FROM A PAINTING BY HARRISON WEIR,

It is Colonel Hawker, we think, who says, somewhere, that in these times you might as well tell a man how to eat his dinner as how to shoot partridges. We shall consequently be guilty of no such impertinence, but confine our advice rather as to how he may contrive not to shoot himself. This, indeed, we borrow from our very excellent friend, the right reverend Bishop of Bond-street, who, we find, has just left his compliments and one of his "Cautions," as lately published, on our table. The Bishop's text is the Shooting Season and the Use of Firearms, and it is thus he discourseth thereon:

"Suppose the sportsman to have fired one barrel of his gun, and then, being desirous of reloading the discharged one, he lets down the cock of the loaded one to half-cock. Now, nothing can be more imprudent than this, for it frequently happens that, instead of the sear going into its place, it catches on the edge of the half-bent of the tumbler; with his gun in this state he reloads, and, should he be lucky enough not to shoot himself from the jar of loading, he is sure, when next he fires the reloaded barrel, to discharge both. I have even known this to occur in firing off a gun with enfeebled locks, when the discharge of one barrel has caused the sear of the remaining lock to move from its proper position to the edge of the full bent of the tumbler, and the sportsman, unaware of his danger, has reloaded with his gun in this state, and an accident has been the consequence.

"Now, let me beg of all sportsmen, in uncocking their guns, to let the cock down past the half-bent, and then to draw it back to the halfcock; in so doing the sear must come into its proper place, and all will be well, taking care that the fingers do not touch the triggers, as it may prevent the locks acting properly. To carry the gun cocked at any time is dangerous and unpardonable, as also with the hammer resting on the cap; in fact, the gun is only safe when at half-cock.

"The use of a thick glove upon the right hand is very dangerous; for, in uncocking and cocking a gun, the glove may, with an imperceptible pressure upon the trigger, occasion the same disarrangement of the lock as above stated.

"Another cause of accidents with guns arises from the carelessness with which some sportsmen neglect attending to the position of the gun in loading, having the gun pointing at their heads, instead of invariably keeping the stock outside the left foot, when the gun, pressing against the leg, will not point in the direction of the head or any part of the person. In loading, turn the gun a little to the right to load the left barrel; your hand will not then be in danger of the right one; and accidents have occurred from the heedless manner in which sportsmen have returned their ramrods after loading, by placing their hand right over the muzzle of the gun, which would have been entirely avoided simply by adjusting the rod in the pipe, and sending it home with the forefinger of the right and the thumb of the left hand. Look at the gun, but never let the gun look at you, is my golden rule; and I can

assure all sportsmen that safety-guards are of but little use when carelessness is predominant.

"The recoil of the gun, so often complained of, arises, in nine cases out of ten, from the not holding the stock to the shoulder, but to the arm; the proper holding of which will be greatly facilitated by keeping the right elbow well down, when the stock will fit the shoulder with greater firmness. Some gentlemen if told this would be quite offended; but I hope these remarks will offend none: for I am sure few could be more capable or more willing to give sound advice upon this subject than myself, who have had the experience of nearly forty years, and the advantage of many of the best opinions in the sporting world, to form my judgment upon.

"Let me caution every one against bringing a loaded gun into the house. Always discharge it before entering; and do not content yourself with taking off the caps and saying All's well,' for the danger is almost as great with the cap off as with them on; for the percussionpowder often comes out of the cap and is left upon the nipple, and the greatest danger may be apprehended from the false security which is presented to the unconscious handler of the gun.

"Another important point which I would offer to the consideration of your readers is, that the locks of their guns should always be kept perfectly clean, as also the triggers, and should act with perfect freedom. A very small quantity of the best oil placed on the axletree, or where the tumbler works in the lockplate, would do good, as the want of this attention has often been the cause of many accidents with locks; but I recommend all sportsmen to send their guns to their gunmakers after the season is over, that they may be put in order, instead of permitting them to lie in their dirt until the eleventh hour, as, I am sorry to say, too many do. "The gun, when loaded, should never be carried with the muzzle downwards, as it sometimes happens that in carrying it so much dirt or snow will lodge itself in the muzzle, unobserved by the sportman, and the barrel, when next fired, will either bulge or burst at the muzzle— this I have often known to be the case. I would therefore recommend the sportsman always to carry his gun upright at the full extent of the arm, as a Dragoon carries his carbine when dismounted; and, should he think that by any chance dirt may have got into the barrels, he should invariably ram it down upon the charge, and thus he will escape all possibility of accident.

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Certainty alone can insure safety; if, then, any doubt be entertained as to whether the gun be properly loaded or not, draw both barrels of the shot, and flash the powder off. To draw the charge, the barrels should be taken out of the stock, the caps removed, and the thumb drawn over the nipples, in order to efface any remains of the percussion powder that may be left on the top of them. When the gun has missed fire, you are at once aware there is an obstruction in the breech, and it should be a warning to you to act cautiously, by taking the nipples out and seeing they are clear; put some powder in the breech, screw the nipples in again, and flash off. By following the above suggestions you will, in all probability, avoid the serious calamity of the powderflask exploding in the hand while in the act of reloading. "The care and caution I have suggested would, I believe, prevent 99 out of 100 of what are generally termed 'accidents with guns,' but what I designate as the results of carelessness."

PASSAGES IN THE LIFE OF A SPORTING MAN.

EDITED BY SCRIBBLE.

CHAPTER. V.

OXFORD.

"O Alma Mater," mother of spoiled children! "nutrix leonum"nurse of sucking lions! thou mausoleum of pious promise and impious practice-externally fair, but internally corrupt! hail! All hail to thee, thou whited sepulchre ! for one who knows thee well is about to sing thy glories-and thine infirmities; for thou hast them. When I think of the amount of learning, innocence, and sobriety which goes into that city of sacred palaces, and experience the ignorance, guile, and selfindulgence which come out of it, then, indeed, I am astonished! Impassible as I once thought myself, my "nil admirari" principle is shaken to its foundation: I wonder, and exclaim

"Felix, qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas!"

It may be easily credited that amongst other sporting propensities, a taste for coaching—at that time a distinguishing vanity of the would-be aristocrat-had not been omitted in the external impressions I encouraged. Those were the days, the halcyon days of Black Wills, Highflyers, white great-coats, and tight trowsers; when the gentleman and coachman was converging so nicely that a step further on either side would have upset the coach altogether; when Lords and Jehus sat on the same benches, and addressed themselves to their commons in company. I was not the man-I beg pardon, boy I should have said-to have escaped this down-the-road fever; and when I presented myself at the Black Bear, Piccadilly, on a fine afternoon in the month of October, 18-, I had made up my mind that a little driving would shorten the journey to Oxford materially. I had plenty of rivals in this determination; and as some of my companions claimed a previous acquaintance with the coachman, and were enabled to address him familiarly by his Christian name, which I was not privileged to do, I should have had no right to complain had they carried the day. In some instances, their tastes and their dress corresponded. "Atque idem velle atque idem nolle, ea demum fermè amicitia est." Freshman as I was then, I failed in my attack upon the box-seat: "Bin kep for Mr. Tiffin, of Brazennose, son of the great Hingy proprietor, hever since last Monday was a week," as the ostler at the Bear informed me.

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Well, George, how do?" said a young and emaciated swell, to a dark-whiskered individual, who, to do him justice, looked very like a gentleman. "I'm coming to sit by you. Have a cigar?"

"All right, sir, only be quick; we're two minutes behind time now."

N

Tiffin, of B.N.C., mounted the box in a curiously-devised coat and a towering passion, caused by the display of an eighteen-bladed knife under his nose.

"Now then, young gent, buy a harticle of this kind; it may be of use to you just going to school and all-only one shilling and sixpence!

We left the stones with the horses prancing and Tiffin bursting.

The coach was full; and had the coachman been disposed to sell the whole concern at the price his passengers put upon themselves-could a purchaser have been found-he might have lived in clover for the rest of his days.

Tiffin has been already introduced-let us finish him. His ruling idea was that the honour of the Honourable the Court of Directors of the India House extended to the smallest twigs of all the branches of that most honourable but extensive concern. He had a similar notion

with regard to its money. The first was theoretical, and therefore harmless; the second was practical, and consequently bore fruit-fruit of a bitterish kind-the loss of some thousands to a few confiding rascals of tradesmen, and the eventual expatriation of the aforesaid Tiffin.

Near me was a don. What in the world he should have travelled outside for, nobody knows. He looked so heavy, so ponderous, so full, that whether he went as extra luggage I cannot tell. I felt that if he only swayed himself, the coach must go over. Macgillicuddy Brown occupied a seat on the off side, behind the box. He was an Irishman, and of great promise-so his creditors said-but of no great fulfilment. He had been sent to an English university, to make acquaintances that might be useful to him (and his sisters) through life; to be quiet, judicious, and to make use of the talents which he really possessed. He had discovered that the character of an Irish chieftain was most suited to his purpose; that to trample upon everybody was to have everybody at your feet to be trampled upon; that making valuable acquaintances meant spending money; and that having no money to spend, it was absolutely incumbent upon him to support his father's theory, that "this was to be the making of him," by getting in debt. He had yet to learn that acquaintances made are only retained upon something like equality of condition, and that feudal laws do not govern the Debtor's Courts in Oxford.

The least offensive of the party was an English nobleman, of quiet gentlemanly appearance, who was evidently studying his next speech for the union, on the propriety of opening that erudite institution on the feast of St. Dirtyface, Abbot and Martyr. He was equally imbued with a notion of his own importance; but intellectual vanity has some palliation, and bears an external respectability something above the swaggering insolence of ignorance or wealth.

There was, however, amongst them all, one person of whom I am bound to speak, and that with some degree of truth-I mean the author of these confessions. I cannot tax myself that I was vain of any particular excellence; but a sort of general self-satisfaction, which set down my neighbours as far below me, pervaded my whole being. I was quite willing to admit that Brown was more learned, Jones better looking, Smith a better rider, Robinson a better whip; this one excelling in one thing, that one in another; but I had an idea that on the