on a very wet day, Mr. Parr appeared as the rider of a great half-bred horse, that was thought to be good enough to win a bare-hunter's cup. Mr. Peyton, wonderfully well got-up, came to ride against him; but the dirt served the big one, and our future celebrity won very easy. Pony and hack-racing with old Towerton and others gradually led on to something a little more legitimate; and for years Mr. Parr was famous for his doings on the Welsh circuit. Horses that were not worth a halter with anybody else could always run a bit with him-at it again, heat after heat, and day after day. Monmouth, Brecon, Swansea, and Aberystwith have still a grateful remembrance of him; for Mr. Parr and his "company" were the back-bone of their meetings, though sadly to the discomfiture of Mr. Gough, Pryse Pryse, Bowen Davies, and other local authorities. From these small fish he got gradually to higher game with Ninety-one, Dulcet, Clothworker, and Fernhill, but still on the same principle, that a race-horse is not kept to be looked at-and so on to Weathergage, with his Goodwood and Newmarket achievements; Rataplan, as honest a slave as any of them; down to Saucebox, running his eight-and-twenty times in a season for anything from "a fifty" upwards, and finishing off with winning the Leger! Mr. Parr is a very clever man, and seldom far out in what he thinks of or does with a racehorse-whether it be playing first and first himself on the back of Aimwell, discovering the merits of such cast-offs as Weathergage and Mortimer, placing a known good one like Rataplan well in for a long line of success, or sending Saucebox on no such fool's errand, after all, for the St. Leger, we still have him the same "lucky gentleman.' Even Saucebox was but another of these castasides; and though many the taste Alfred Day had of him, it remained with the "Squire of Wantage to prove what really was in him.

The best of luck, however, like the best horses, is worth but little without it is well looked after; and this must be another maxim with Mr. Parr. Up to the very last moment we may all witness his careful guardianship himself setting a saddle-cloth, adjusting a surcingle, or leading a nervous one up to the post. And, then, when he does let go his head, well may he say with the turfite of old-" I've done my duty; now do yours!" His horses are trained at Benham, near Wantage, in Berkshire. His head man is Hopkins, who lived with the late Mr. Fowler; assisted by George Hall, who often piloted Clothworker, and still occasionally rides in public.

Clement, however, has lately been his favourite light-weight; while of our more famous jockeys he generally selects, when he can command them, from two of the most fortunate, either Flatman or Wells. Standing out from all his legion of winning rides, this is the first of the three great races Wells has yet succeeded in, though for this one he had previously been always handy-fourth on Scythian, and third on Rataplan. He has lengthened out considerably within this last year or two, and ranks no longer as a 66 prodigy," but as a really fine resolute horseman. Mr. Parr still occasionally acts as his own jockey in Queen's Plates and Welter Stakes. He is by no means a pretty rider; but his "head" serves him equally well here, and he never makes a mistake. In former days he was often on Nikè, Combat, and others of old Forster's wonderful half-bred ones; while of his own horses, perhaps, Aimwell and Clothworker have been his favourite mounts.

"HOLD HARD, THERE!"

ENGRAVED BY J. H. ENGLEHEART, FROM A PAINTING BY H. ALKEN.

Our friend Swaggers, who is apt to make the most of it, is fond of talking of a fox he once saw "pulled down before hounds in Leicestershire." According to his account "it was rather a curious finish," although he never went very minutely into particulars. The accompanying illustration does his story more justice. He was riding his famous nag Erebus, going as straight as a rifle, and at least at fiveand-forty miles an hour, when they literally "ran into him." Puggy had his head pointed for a very fine "line" at the time, and Swaggers was one of the first half-dozen up-per mail train, second class, to Oakham.

Did you ever come across any of these unexpected treats, good Mr. Reader?-a race seen from the top of the Wonder, when "Mr. Coachman" contrived to reach the corner of the course just as they were off for the Trial Stake; or a run through a regatta at Erith, when bound for Ramsgate or Dover; or, falling providentially on a well-arranged turnup between "The Southdown Pet" and "Shock Jem," when with nothing better in view than a call on a country cousin. It has been our lot to experience all these agreeable little surprises; and it is astonishing how one enjoys them. How it breaks the monotony of the journey, and keeps you in a perpetual and very pleasing excitement as to what is to happen next! We confess, however, that we never yet had the good fortune of Swaggers, though many the thousands of miles we have gone at a clipping pace in this wise, over, or rather through a country. Railways, that were to bring the death-blow to fox-hunting, don't seem to have done the noble science so much harm after all. men, indeed, hunt than ever; while the inconvenience arising from thus cutting up a country has not turned out near so great as was at first imagined it would be. To a certain class of sportsmen the so-called inconvenience is all the other way; allowing them to catch a day or two a week, when under former circumstances they could scarcely ever have hoped for one. Even Reynard himself is said at times to avail himself of these facilities; and they tell a good story in the Vale, of one, evidently a stranger to the country, who, when hard pressed, made his point straight for the Tring Station. "S-s-s-stop the hounds!" halloed one of the field, in a high state of stutter and excitement, to a blood-thirsty whipper-in." D-d-don't kill him; he's g-g-got a return ticket!"

More

For "The Chase and the Road," then, read it "The Chase and the Rail;" a hint which we very handsomely offer to "The Quarterly."

LITERATURE,

"REMARKS ON THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS, THE CHOICE OF HORSES, AND THEIR MANAGEMENT." By Nimrod. Fourth Edition. Revised by Cornelius Tongue ("Cecil"), author of "The Stud Farm," "Stable Practice," &c. Pitman, Warwicksquare, London.

"THE HORSE." By William Youatt. A new edition, re-edited and revised, with Observations on Breeding Cavalry Horses, by "Cecil." Routledge, Farringdon-street, London,

It is a very significant compliment to Mr. Tongue that he has been selected to re-edit two of the most popular and valuable works ever devoted to that most attractive of themes-the horse, and his management. It may be further satisfactory to the several publishers of these two volumes to know, that to no one could their charge have been so safely entrusted. "Cecil" is not only an experienced sportsman, but something more. His innate love for the horse has led him to study the animal under many different phases-not merely when in use as a hunter, hack, or race-horse, but with equal care and attention when thrown-up or out of health-through all the many ills horseflesh is heir to, from the day he gets a head-collar insinuated over his ears, to his break-down in a flat race, or may-be more serious mishap over a country. There is, too, no man whose own productions have so thoroughly qualified him for such a duty as that here required. If we wished to "set up" any young sportsman or farmer with a few volumes that would be most serviceable to him in his breeding, dealing, and riding exploits, we would add to "Nimrod" "On Condition," and Youatt" On the Horse," two of" Cecil's" own books-"The Stud Farm" and "Stable Practice." More than this even, "Cecil" has none of that unhappy jealousy which has too often marked the effusions of other writers on sporting topics. His preface to the present edition of the letters On Condition shows how willing he is to do justice to their author:-"The soundness of 'Nimrod's' judgment and experience in the management of horses is justified by the esteem and respect in which it is held to this day; for although thirty-three years have elapsed since he ventured to place his opinions on record, they have been sustained during a period of inquiry and progress during which the veterinary art has been advanced by able professors, whilst many suggestions which the author had not matured are since proved to have been founded on sound and judicious principles. The sporting world and other proprietors of horses are deeply indebted to the author"-and so on.

This, perhaps, of itself is about the best recommendation the work could have. It assures us that Nimrod's excellent advice and reasoning will not be unnecessarily interfered with. Indeed, Mr. Tongue leaves the text much as it originally appeared; choosing,