Aash-houses and other minor receptacles for thieves, when a den of this description can rear its head in the most public part of London with impunity. Surely it is a fearful symptom among the signs of the times, when those whose stations in society call upon them for examples of probity and worth (to say nothing of the higher claims which their families, their friends, and their country have upon them) should not only be totally regardless of all these, but, in fact, so dead to their own real interest and reputation, as to become the habitual companions of mere thieves and swindlers; for such in truth are the demons who preside over and thrive by these places, however they may think that their admission into better society than that of the common cut-purse entitles them to be considered of another grade. Shall we be told that there is fair play' at these places? Fair, indeed, must be the proceedings at places which have gained one common appellation, and that in common with the infernal regions. In them we believe fair is foul, and foul is fair.' But be it so. Admit, for the sake of argument, that the play at such places is fair; does it follow that play is less an evil on that account? Is the drunkard less a beast because the liquor which intoxicates him is unadulterated? Why, the State Lottery, it is to be hoped at least, was fair; but that has been abolished on account of its alleged demoralizing tendency. But we believe there is no such thing as fair play, strictly speaking, at any of these hells or clubs. A mere gamester must, from the very nature of his occupation, be a rogue. Watch him-look at him narrowly while at the card or hazardtable. See whether he has any heart or any of the common feelings of nature about him. He has invariably none, and is therefore under little or no moral restraint. He is invariably a bad husband, a bad father, a bad son, a bad brother, and a bad friend. Let his play be ever so fair, as it is called, the demon of selfishness and avarice besets him as a mortal disease, and he is from that moment a useless pest upon earth, a curse to himself, his country, and his connections. This picture we verily believe is not overcharged; and if it be not, what terms can be too strong in which to reprobate the farther spread of this horrid

vice among us? We call then upon that sex who happily have hearts-who, by their attractions and virtue, can and ought to influence men in all their actions, to use their powers of persuasion in saving their fathers, husbands, brothers, lovers, and with them their country, from this growing and astounding evil. Never let it be said of English women, that they stood quietly by, and witnessed, much less encouraged, a ruin in which they and their offspring must be involved. Far as this pestilence has spread, it is still, we trust, within controlable bounds, and it is to the virtue and good sense of those whom the contagion has not yet reached, that we look to erect a barrier against its further progress.

MR. URBAN,

THE

June 20.

THE general superiority of the animals of England over those of other countries has long been acknowledged, and in no particular is this preeminence more striking than in its breed of Dogs, which from the remotest times has been highly celebrated. We are told the dogs of Britain were trained by the Gauls, and used in their battles; and so convinced were the Romans of their prowess, that

persons were appointed especially to procure and forward them for the combats of the amphitheatre. The poet Gratius, the contemporary of Ovid, in his work on hunting, commends their superior boldness; at the same time he confesses they were far inferior in beauty of form and colour.

"Si non ad speciem, mentiturosque decores Protimus; hæc una est catulis jactura Bri

tannis.

At magnum cùm venit opus, promendaque virtus,

Et vocat extremo præceps discrimine Mavors, Non tunc egregios tantum admirere Molossos."

In the old romance of Sir Triamour, the hound, which plays so distinguished a part in revenging his murdered master, (the main incidents of which beautiful story have been introduced with his usual ability in the tale of the Talisman by the Author of Waverley,) is said to be an "English hound;"" at least he is designated as such in the dramatic representation of the same romance by Hans Sachs. The nets of Italy and Spain were

horrors of seeing the barometer pointing to three lines below the freezing point of Fahrenheit, I do conjure you to fold up your curious leaves of antiquity, dear Urban, and turn to such of your sybilline oracles, if you have any, as can spread relief to my wearied sinews-can bring back the calves of my legs, which did actually last night sink into the cavities that lie, I believe, behind them, and place my toes upon their proper level to poise my body, instead of starting upward "like a broken bow." I doubt not if, in all the repertorium of your ninety-seven volumes of the Gentleman's Magazine you should find yourself at a loss for some immediate remedy (for I am writing now under the remains of what I suffered five hours siuce), you would consult some venerable fellow-sufferer in our learned Universities, and recommend them to use their Christian calling in diffusing to a poor wight, not altogether insensible to their merit and learning, some consolation to this mortal flesh. If I make my case known to the Medical College-those with even the president's gold-headed cane at their head, seem to be puzzled for a practical remedy, and turn off with a smile, and say, as Dr. Buchan used to say, grasp a roll of brimstone, which you may buy for sixpence, and if it takes away the pain instantly it may as well be adopted; or a glass of tarwater as Bp. Berkeley would have said. But even this does not answer the purpose, seeing that the anxieties of the day are apt to make us thoughtless and unprovided against those of the night, until it is too late to send to a shop for these articles, which I shall be therefore told, with a taunting sneer, that it was my duty to have procured in time. It is all very true doctrine, but like Job's comforter, it comes too late. Is there any other remedy known in the passing world for this intruder! Is there no one that can shew the cause of his coming? Is it indigestion, the modern resource of all medical difficulties? Here is presented a certain datum on which we may fix our compass, and turn this hidden enemy from his lurking corner, and finally exclude him. A grave and experienced Doctor of my acquaintance says, Let the patient, and especially if he be a studious man, carefully avoid the most attractive diet or dish at table which is in any degree likely to produce acid,

or to increase any habitual disposition to an acidity, to which those who are little accustomed to air and exercise are usually subjected." Now I am told that veal and ham are of this kind, and were the causes of the trouble above described. If previous caution can be observed at bed-time, a spoonful of magnesia may be set ready to still the enemy, or rather if suspected in preparing his attack, it may be taken before going to bed. This corrects the acidity, which is the cause of the attack. But I do not vouch for these remedies, and having never been accustomed to place any faith in what I merely hear, and do not well understand, I trust you will do well for myself and the rest of your correspondents and readers, by some more effectual and convincing prescription. If you will bring forth your succour, dear Urban, all will be well. A. H.

TWO

ON GAMING.

WO houses (says a contemporary Journal) are now pulling down in St. James'-street, the sites of which we presume, are to be added, in some way or other, to the national disgrace which already stands there, a monumental outrage upon public decency. Well, indeed, may the affairs of a country fall into the hands of mere political adventurers, where those whose ambition it ought to be to serve in the highest offices of state, dedicate their days and nights to a selfish, hideous vice, which is now risen to such a height ameg us as to require palaces for its orgies. The subject is one which becomes every day more and more appalling; and though the ef forts of the press have hitherto been of little, if of any avail, in checking the career of those who seem impenetrable to shame, yet as long as our voice can reach the public ear, never will we cease to raise it against the most base and demoralising system with which a country, laying claim to any thing like honesty and virtue, either public or private, ever was afflicted. Every man, as he passes this 'whitened sepulchre,' lifts his eyes with astonishment at the joint folly and wickedness which can alone have reared, and can alone support an edifice at once so low and so magnificent. Surely it is a monstrous inequality in the law, which professes to suppress

flash-houses and other minor receptacles for thieves, when a den of this description can rear its head in the most public part of London with impunity. Surely it is a fearful symptom among the signs of the times, when those whose stations in society call upon them for examples of probity and worth (to say nothing of the higher claims which their families, their friends, and their country have upon them) should not only be totally regardless of all these, but, in fact, so dead to their own real interest and reputation, as to become the habitual companions of mere thieves and swindlers; for such in truth are the demons who preside over and thrive by these places, however they may think that their admission into better society than that of the common cut-purse entitles them to be considered of another grade. Shall we be told that there is fair play' at these places? Fair, indeed, must be the proceedings at places which have gained one common appellation, and that in common with the infernal regions. In them we believe fair is foul, and foul is fair.' But be it so. Admit, for the sake of argument, that the play at such places is fair; does it follow that play is less an evil on that account? Is the drunkard less a beast because the liquor which intoxicates him is unadulterated? Why, the State Lottery, it is to be hoped at least, was fair; but that has been abolished on account of its alleged demoralizing tendency. But we believe there is no such thing as fair play, strictly speaking, at any of these hells or clubs. A mere gamester must, from the very nature of his occupation, be a rogue. Watch him-look at him narrowly while at the card or hazardtable. See whether he has any heart or any of the common feelings of nature about him. He has invariably none, and is therefore under little or no moral restraint. He is invariably a bad husband, a bad father, a bad son, a bad brother, and a bad friend. Let his play be ever so fair, as it is called, the demon of selfishness and avarice besets him as a mortal disease, and he is from that moment a useless pest upon earth, a curse to himself, his country, and his connections. This picture we verily believe is not overcharged; and if it be not, what terms can be too strong in which to reprobate the farther spread of this horrid

vice among us? We call then upon that sex who happily have hearts-who, by their attractions and virtue, can and ought to influence men in all their actions, to use their powers of persuasion in saving their fathers, husbands, brothers, lovers, and with them their country, from this growing and astounding evil. Never let it be said of English women, that they stood quietly by, and witnessed, much less encouraged, a ruin in which they and their offspring must be involved. Far as this pestilence has spread, it is still, we trust, within controlable bounds, and it is to the virtue and good sense of those whom the contagion has not yet reached, that we look to erect a barrier against its further progress.

MR. URBAN,

THE

June 20.

over THE general superiority of the animals of England over those of other countries has long been acknowledged, and in no particular is this preeminence more striking than in its breed of Dogs, which from the remotest times has been highly celebrated. We are told the dogs of Britain were trained by the Gauls, and used in their battles; and so convinced were the Romans of their prowess, that persons were appointed especially to procure and forward them for the combats of the amphitheatre. The poet Gratius, the contemporary of Ovid, in his work on hunting, commends their superior boldness; at the same time he confesses they were far inferior in beauty of form and colour.

"Si non ad speciem, mentiturosque decores Protimus; hæc una est catulis jactura Bri

tannis.

mation in which they were held; for Tansillo, in his poem La Balia, or the Nurse, thus alludes to them:

E i cagnuoli, o siano nostri o di Bret

tagna,

Perchè il valor de' padri in lor si servi,
Non den latte assaggiar di strana eagna.”
And Garcilaso de la Vega, with much
strength of description, in one of his
Eclogues,

Como lebrel de Irlanda generoso
Que el javali cerdoso y fiero mira,
Rebatase, sospira, fuerza y rine,
Y apenas le constrine el atadura
Que el dueno con cordura mos aprieta."

The French were particularly unwilling to admit our superiority in dogs, though they were much sought after and prized by the nobility. Four English greyhounds were thought by Froissart a valuable addition to the pack of the most experienced huntsman of his day, Gaston Count de Foix; yet, notwithstanding the preference shewn for them in this and other instances, their writers on hunting, admitting the English dogs were better trained, were still indignant that they should be supposed at all superior to the French. "The English dogs," says Salnove, "are not more clever, and do not possess more dexterity than those of France, but they are naturally more obedient and docile; they are therefore preferred by idle hunters, and those who are ignorant of the art, for it requires little skill to manage them: a few English words which they pride themselves upon knowing, do all that is requisite:" and a later writer complains, that since the introduction of English dogs, and the consequent mixture of the breeds, "nos beaux chiens antiques se sont évanouis, on n'y connoît plus rien, et il n'en est resté que la curiosité du pelage." Our good old dogs have disappeared; nothing is known respecting them, and all that remains of them is the singularity of

true breed is not now to be found. This is to be regretted; for they are represented as most faithful and courageous, and of strength and power. This may be the sort of hounds the knights of old kept with them for a defence; it would have been impossible for a greyhound of the common kind to have performed what the hound of Sir Triamour is said to have done. The Irish greyhound was used in France in the 17th century for hunting the wild boar and wolf.

But it is the common greyhound that appears to have been the favourite animal of our forefathers, the peculiar dog of chivalry; and its beauty, activity, and grace, well fitted it for the companion of gallant knights and fair ladies; the hawk, the horse, and the hound, were the accompaniments and signs of gentle blood, and many a churches reposing his marble limbs on brave cavalier may be seen in our the faithful body of his greyhound. So great was the fondness for this class of dogs, that about the end of the fourteenth century the Count de San

cerre founded an order called the Or-
der of the Greyhound. According to
the old writers on the subject, in order
to form a perfect dog, the features of
selves were necessary. Dame Juliana
several animals very different in them-
Barnes, in her Book on Hunting, thus
quaintly sums them up.
"A greyhounde sholde be heeded lyke a
And neckyd like a drake
snake,

Fotyd lyke a catte,
Tayllyd lyke a ratte
Syded lyke a teme
And chynyd like a beme."

She then goes on to describe how he should be treated year by year, till at last when he has grown infirm in the service of his master, and is of no more use in the sports of the field, the merciless old lady thus coolly recommends,

"And when he is comyn to that yere Have him to the tannere ;

For the beste hounde that ever bytche hadde

At ninthe yere he is full badde."

A similar description of a perfect greyhound is in the old French poem on Hunting by Gaces de la Bigne, from which, as well as the prose treatise of Gaston Phebus, much of the

• The ninth.