erected in 1541, will be seen standing out in bold defiance, the sentinel of the Southampton Water. Portsmouth and its dockyard, and Ryde with its gay pier, crowded with the fairest of Albion's daughters, are also well worth a visit, and are quite within a day's "outing.'

Every well wisher to his country must feel the importance of keeping up its national sports; they are essentially manly and healthy in their practice. No social institution having reference to the occupation of man during the period of his relaxation from labour and the serious business of life, ever so wisely provided for the recreation of the million, as by what is termed sporting. Take, for instance, the game of cricket; its spirit is to promote good will and good fellowship among all classes, to draw all divisions of society together, and to enable the peasant to meet in friendly intercourse.

peer and Walter White, in an agreeable volume, "A Month in Yorkshire," thus denounces the modern system of cricket: "In the first field, on the edge of the town, I saw what accounted to me for the lifelessness of Redcar-a cricket match. As well might one hope to be merry, at a funeral as at a game of cricket, improved into its present condition; when the ball is no longer bowled, but pelted, and pelters' movements resemble those of a jack-pudding, when gauntlets must be worn on the hands, and greaves on the shins; and other inventions are brought into use, to deprive pastime of anything like enjoyment. That twentytwo men should ever consent to come together for such a mockery of pleasure is to me a mystery. Wouldn't Dr. Livingstone's Makololo laugh at them? The only saving point attending it is, that it involves some amount of exercise in the open air. No wonder that the French Duchess, who was invited to see a game, sent one of her suite, after sitting two hours, to inquire when the creakay was going to begin.' The Guisborough band was doing its best to enliven the field; but I saw no exhiliration. Read Miss Mitford's description of a cricket match on the village green; watch a schoolboy's game; consider the mirth and merriment that they get out of it, and sympathise with modern cricket if you can."

While admiring Walter White's descriptive powers and deep research, we cannot, nor will the majority of England, we think, endorse his opinions upon that manly game, which is the delight of rich and poor, peer and peasant, and if we required a proof of this we should find it in the numbers that attended the Eton and Harrow Match last month at Lords.

Many of our leading sportsmen leave England during the month of August, for Norway or North America, and here I would remark, that one of the best books of travel, sport, and adventure, and which I have noticed elsewhere, is by Captain Townshend, of the 2nd Life Guards.

Captain Townshend's description of an encounter with a buffalo is not exceeded by the following which Simpson gave of buffalo hunting on the North Coast of America. "At Red River the buffaloes are now seldom taken in pounds. In the summer and fall, large parties of the half-bred hunters, all mounted on their small Indian horses, which are well broke to this sport, scatter themselves over the plains, camping generally in the open air, or in leathern lodges, and under their pro

vincial carts. As soon as the buffaloes are perceived, the young men gallop after them, and either partially surround them on the plain, or endeavour to drive them into some little valley, or neck of land projecting into a lake, where escape is difficult. A running fire then opens all along the line. The hunters reload their guns while their horses are in full career; the bullets are carried in the mouth, and dropped into the barrel without any wadding; their small whips are attached by a band to the right wrist; the sagacious horse of his own accord follows the animal his master has singled out. In this way many buffaloes in succession are shot by the same hunter, and hundreds fall in a single race. No sight can be livelier than a camp of successful hunters. They generally pitch in some clump or point of woods; the provision carts form the outer circle, to which the horses are tied; fires blaze in every direction; the men smoke their pipes, or arrange their fire-arms; while the women are employed in cooking. Everywhere you hear the laugh and the jest, and the repasts are sumptuous. While the men hunt, the females are occupied in drying the spare meat, or perverting it into pemican. This now far-famed provender of the wilderness is formed by pounding the choice parts of the meat very small, putting it into bags made of the slain animal, into which a proportion (fifty pounds pounded meat and forty pounds grease make a bag of pemican) of melted fat is then poured; and the whole being strongly compressed, and sewed up, constitutes the best and most portable article of provision for the voyageur. In the winter season this sport assumes a more varied character. When the snow is not deep, the buffaloes may be run on horseback, as in the summer; indeed, if numerous, they beat such a track with their broad hoofs that they are easily pursued; at other times they are approached by the hunter" crawling" on the snow. He walks cautiously up to within a certain distance, far enough not to alarm the herd; then prostrates himself on the snow, drags himself along on his belly, with his gun trailing after him, and in this manner frequently proceeds a long way before he can get within reach, when the buffaloes are shy. When fatigued with this laborious and unnatural motion, he stops to draw breath, and throws up a little heap of snow before him, to screen him from his prey; and some are said to be so dexterous in this mode of approach as actually to drive aside with their guns the old bulls who form the outer guard of the band; in order to select the choicest of the cows. As a disguise, a close dun-coloured cap, furnished with upright ears, is often worn by the experienced hunter, to give him the appearance of a wolf, for, from constant association, that ravenous beast is regarded by the buffaloes without dread. In the spring of the year, when there is a hard crust on the snow, produced by alternate thaw and frost, the buffaloes are frequently run down by the hunters, and stabbed with their daggers while floundering in the deep drifts, which yield to their weight, but support their pursuers, who wear snow shoes; and in this way, which is the easiest and safest of all, the unfortunate animals fall a prey even to women and boys."

127

SECOND SERIES.

BY FORWARD.

No. XVI.

A MODERN BUILDER;

In the good old days of the honest men, it was a difficult task for a young and energetic man to raise a fortune. He had carefully to level the ground for his foundation, and take care that his superstructure was firmly knit together. I remember the saying of one of these worthies, who had commenced his career in Chiswick Workhouse, and finished by leaving behind him a fortune of some forty thousand pounds: "The greatest difficulty I experienced was getting together my first five pounds." He had been apprenticed by the parish to a lighterman, and, like many others of his class, had entered into the married state whilst but a mere youth. This, instead of spoiling his prospects, was, however, the turning-point of his life; and the additional cares thus cast upon him determined his attempts to rise above his then condition. Happily for him, he had met with a mate who sympathised with his ambition, and who, by a life-long course of domestic economy, aided his efforts. Every shilling that could be spared from the demands of mere existence was carefully put by, and copper of every size and denomination was added to the store, until at last he found himself the possessor of an Abraham Newland's "promise to pay on demand the sum of five pounds."

This event occurred before the birth of his first-born; and, though sickness and its accompanying expenditure appeared to thwart his desires, yet he was enabled to overcome this difficulty, and leave his store undiminished. Encouraged thereby, the man and wife persevered till £20 had been saved together, with which she opened a shop, whilst he continued to navigate the barge in which he had served as apprentice, having now been appointed to its full command.

A determined perseverance in the course he had marked out, combined with a most punctilious honesty to the interests of his employer had their reward. The latter, having long watched his servant's conduct, concluded on giving him an interest in the business, and, without making him his partner, rewarded him by adding a commission on the barge's earnings to his previous wages. The effect was soon felt in the increased savings arising therefrom; and the first five pounds had now swelled to one hundred.

Not

When this point had been reached, the man was to be changed into a master, and the necessary steps taken for carrying this out. wishing to lose him, Mr. -made propositions that the money should be brought into his trade, and the business henceforth carried on by the firm,

The connexion was an old and highly respectable one; and our

quondam parish-boy eagerly embraced the offer. He felt that his energies would soon increase the business, and determined still, for the present, to work his own craft up and down the river, and thus keep an eye also on the operations of the other barges, of which he now was the joint-owner. The four vessels soon had an addition, and gradually increased until there were at last twenty, working under the orders of the firm.

Before he had reached the age of thirty-five years, the death of his partner left him sole proprietor of that business to which he had been apprenticed, and gave him full scope to display his capabilities in building a fortune. Having leased some premises by the waterside, he erected two malt-kilns, and added that manufacture to his carrying trade. He also commenced as coal-merchant, and carried on a profitable commission trade in bricks, tiles, and slates.

When I first knew him he was about sixty, and then passed as a man well to do in the world. Three of his daughters were respectably settled in life; and his only son was just taken into partnership. Three other daughters remained at home, and cheered the declining years of their provident parents. Their private home, for about three years, was open to my almost-daily visits, and I therefore well knew the interior of their domestic life. Abundance without ostentation, economy without meanness, enjoyment without waste, were the standing mottoes of a man who had raised himself by his own exertions, and commanded the respect of all by his unwearied assiduity and civility. Another boy, apprenticed from the same workhouse, pursued a similar course, and received a like reward.

I also have in view a schoolfellow of myself, who has made his mark in the world by acting wisely and well. His elder brother succeeded to a large family trade on the sudden death of the father, whilst he was without experience and business capabilities. The ready moneys were squandered, and the old connexion driven away, by carelessness and inattention, before the subject of this notice was old enough to leave school. When he did so, he was placed in the working department of the trade, and left at the distant mill, whilst the other members of the family were enjoying each other's society, in addition to that of a numerous circle of friends and acquaintance. Although he felt bitterly the difference thus made, he would not be beaten thereby; and in his solitary hours he pondered again and again over the various means by which he might eventually rise to fame and riches. Feeling that he must have a starting point, like the eminent Bristol grocer, he saw that personal savings must be the fulcrum for his lever to act upon. What many of his age and station would have rejected as worthless, he sought out and accumulated, until his old rags attained a pound in weight, and his old iron a hundredweight, when the amount of their produce was carefully added to his weekly allowance; and the coppers, changed into silver, finally took the form of sterling moneys of Great Britain and Ireland. When he was twenty years old, he had started in business on his own account; and so well was his character appreciated, that the neighbouring farmers would seek his orders for their articles more readily than they would the elder brother's; and he soon established himself in a paying and steady trade. Not content with this, he sought up the old London connexion, and steadily retained

those he had once acquired. His persevering efforts obtained for him the especial notice of one or two gentlemen, who advanced to him the funds necessary for his increasing business; and thus capital came to his command. Working night and day, he turned his attention to every source from whence profit was to be derived; and, having made one or two successful speculations, he laid the sure foundation of his present wealth. At this moment, there is no name better known in his particular markets, nor whose signature stands better at the Bank than does that of Mr.

Again, I remember another, whose father, having been unsuccessful, had taken a small farm, and supported his family by his own and the sons' united labour. His successor died suddenly, leaving no one to carry on the business. An old servant, who had lived with the father for many years, had accumulated his savings, and, thinking there was an opportunity for our hero, sought and found him loading a dungcart. In his nineteenth year he was brought back to the town of his birth, and started in an adjoining locality of his father's downfall. The necessary stock was purchased for a small trade; and his energies were called into full play. He had great opposition to encounter, not only from the representatives of his father's successor, but also from an old-established rival house. Thus, contending with difficulties on either band, at times he was fearful he should have to succumb; but, when nearly exhausted both in cash and bodily and mental energies, his spirits were suddenly revived by the volunteered assistance of a gentleman of his neighbourhood, who proved himself a friend in need. About the same time the old domestic died, and, having no immediate relatives, left him all that he possessed, making him thus the absolute master of the stock and business he had thus by his efforts pulled together, and of a further capital, hitherto reserved by its late possessor.

Other similar instances might be recorded by me; but, having headed my article "A Modern Builder," I will briefly relate some incidents in the career of Mr. Brick.

This personage was the son of a wool-stapler, and had for a few years been employed in his father's office; but, finding the salary thence derived not equal to his wants, he determined on adopting some other mode of life, and looked round for the readiest way of making some four or five hundred per annum.

Having a theoretical knowledge of architecture, his attention was drawn thitherward. About this time London began making those vast strides into the suburbs which has now ended in nearly blending together converting orchards into villa residences and pastures into rows of cottages. In the course of his previous occupations he had been made acquainted with more than one money-lender; and, having matured his plans, he laid them before one of his fraternity. Mr. Brick demonstrated to him a plan by which he could secure him against all contingencies, on condition that he would make the necessary advances, which he agreed to do, after consultation with legal adviser. The latter had a client, who fortunately was possessed of some acres of land, producing but a moderate rental as garden-ground, but which, when cut up into building sites, would be more than trebled in value by thus operating upon it. Thus one was to find the ground, another the capital, and Mr. Brick judgment; and the lawyer was to receive his share of