up to the standard of the most ordinary field day's operations. Military critics may pat them on the back and speak patronisingly of the aptitude of volunteers, when more thoroughly trained, for taking their place in the line of battle; but, after all, these are but left-handed compliments, and equally true of any body of Englishmen brought together for other purposes than for learning the art of war. To become perfect in subordinate parts is all that can be expected of the force as at present constituted; and when looking at volunteers attempting what regular troops can only attain to by long time and trouble, we are forcibly reminded of the concluding words of advice given by the author of the first volunteer manual, Do 'not let anybody persuade you to learn more.' A. WLLIAM AUGUSTUS, DUKE OF CUMBERLAND, SOLDIER AND SPORTSMAN. AMONGST the upper classes in this country a vast deal of sentimental feeling has been thrown away upon Bonnie Prince Charlie,' whilst a corresponding amount of injustice has been done to the character of his rival, the Hero of Culloden. Jacobites in disguise and haters of order and discipline combined to heap odium upon the latter, and for the part that he took in stamping out the Rebellion of '45 they fastened upon him the nickname of The Butcher. The people, however, took a more just view of the Duke. His fair, round face and burly figure became the subject of the sign of many a village alehouse; and we have it, upon the authority of Lord Orford, that when he died the middle and lower classes in London not only clad themselves in mourning, but wore it for a longer period than the Gazette' prescribed. A volume of the General Orders of the Duke, during his campaigns in Flanders and in Scotland, has lately been published by Messrs. Henry S. King and Co., a perusal of which will go a long way to knock on the head some of the calumnies of which his Royal Highness has been the victim. The Duke was, indeed, a fine fellow, a dutiful son, a loyal subject, a soldier devoted to his profession, a friend to be depended upon, and always doing kind and generous actions. It is well known that all those about him entertained the most sincere regard for their royal master. When the ministry would have kept back one of the Duke's aides-de-camp-Mr. Conway—as being in Parliament, from accompanying him in the Scotch campaign, the latter burst into tears, and nothing would prevent him from following his beloved Duke. On his side the Duke was equally attached to them; and when the Earl of Albemarle, who, as Lord Bury, had been another of the Duke's aides-de-camp, captured Havannah in 1762, the Duke's delight knew no bounds. Meeting the Dowager Countess of Albemarle in the Presence Chamber at St. James's, he exclaimed in his jolly, hearty way, By G-d, my lady, if it ' wasn't in the drawing-room, I should kiss you!' At the early age of twenty-two the Duke was engaged at the Battle of Dettingen (June, 1743), where he was wounded in the leg, but refused to quit the field. Wolfe, afterwards the hero of Quebec, then an ensign in the 12th Foot, wrote to his father: The 'Duke behaved as bravely as a man could do. He had a musket'ball through the calf of his leg. I had the honour of speaking with him just as the battle begun, and was often afraid of being dashed to pieces by the cannon-balls. He gave his orders with a great 'deal of calmness, and seemed quite unwearied.' Although the Duke treated his wound as a trifle, it proved to be a serious one, and there can be no doubt that it eventually shortened his life. Two years later he was in command of the British portion of the allied forces at the desperate battle of Fontenoy, where the Hon. Philip Yorke bears testimony to his bravery. The Duke's beha'viour was, by all accounts, the most heroic and gallant ima'ginable. He was the whole day in the thickest of the fire.' His aide-de-camp, Mr. Conway, killed two French grenadiers with his own hand. Upon this occasion the Duke was on horseback for more than twenty-five hours. The cynical Horace Walpole remarked, ' He will be as popular with the lower class of men as 'he has been for three or four years with the low women: he will 'be the soldiers' great Sir as well as theirs.' And in the following year (1746), quoting from the same authority: The great dependence is upon the Duke; the soldiers adore him, and with reason: he has a lion's courage, vast vigilance and activity, and, I am told, great military genius.' In the campaign which followed, and in which the battle of Culloden was gained, the Duke showed great ability. Much odium was cast upon him for the cruelties said to be committed in the suppression of the Rebellion, but the General Orders, above referred to, which were issued from day to day, seem to show that no undue severity was used. They provide for sending the rebel lords and other prisoners to London for trial: they appoint courtsmartial to try deserters taken in the rebel ranks. They are most stringent against marauding, or plundering the country-people, and against disorder of every kind. It is quite clear that the most strict discipline was maintained. When not engaged in active service the Duke took up his residence at Cranbourn Lodge, in Windsor Park, of which he was the Ranger. During his sojourn there he was a constant attendant upon the Royal staghounds, which hunted on Tuesdays and Saturdays from Holy-rood Day (September 25) till Easter week. At a distance of more than a century great changes have taken place in the character of the sport. The herd of red deer in Windsor Forest amounted, at that time, to about twelve hundred head, which were replenished occasionally with deer taken from the New Forest in Hampshire. It was the duty of the yeomen prickers, in their liveries of scarlet and gold, with French horns slung round them, to single out from the herd the quarry for the day's diversion. As soon as he had been separated from his companions the hounds were laid on-powerful animals of the old staghound breed, not foxhounds entered to deer, but the true yellow pie, very sonorous in note, and having the character of the bloodhound in shape. But in nothing has there been so great a change as in the face of the country, which was then an immense tract of open heaths growing nothing but broom and gorse, with here and there impassable bogs and sheets of water, dirty and deep, and at all times a most distressing country for horses. The records of the Royal Chase show no lack of sport; we read of excellent runs of every variety and duration. At one time, 'A most severe chase, with a rich scent that 'threw out many of those who were most eager at the commencement, ' and completely tired the major part of the hounds.' At another, 'A continued burst of fifteen miles, complete and absolute racing. For this hour the man with a good horse under him, though without a guinea on earth, was richer in sublunary enjoyment than all 'the Court of Bank or East India directors.' They tell of 'Horses gradually declining from one pace to another, a short and tired 'stroke to a standstill, and being unavoidably left wherever accom'modation could be obtained, cordial balls, drenches of warm wine, and other invigorants being eagerly brought into use.' When the deer was pulled down and killed, those persons who intended to run their horses for the King's guineas at Ascot had to apply to the Huntsman for qualification tickets that they were well up with the hounds at the kill. At the close of the season 1751-52 his Royal Highness ran his chestnut gelding Button for the Plate at Ascot, for horses that had been up at the death of a leash of stags in Windsor Forest during the previous season. But it was little likely that a horse fitted to carry the Duke's great weight to the end of a long, jading run should shine as a racer, and, of six competitors in the race, Button was the last. About this time there was a foxhunting club established at Redbourne, in Hertfordshire, of which his Royal Highness became a member. It appears probable that the Duke hunted there a good deal, because he built himself a snug hunting-box and excellent stables upon Redbourne Common, which remain to this day just as he left them. The Duke was a thorough Englishman in his tastes, and, amongst other things, was a patron of the Prize Ring, and more especially of Jack Broughton the champion, who was a man of good manners and address. The Duke was present at the fight between Broughton and Slack, at Broughton's amphitheatre in Oxford Street, which resulted in the overthrow of the champion. Contemporary writers attributed Broughton's defeat to his holding his opponent too cheap, and neglecting his training; but the Duke, who lost several thousand pounds on this battle, declared he had been sold, and nothing could ever persuade him to the contrary. There were many suspicious circumstances connected with this match which would not be likely to escape the notice of an observant sportsman. From these congenial pursuits the Duke was summoned, in 1757, to take the command of an army which was intended for the defence of Hanover. The force was composed chiefly of Hanoverians and Hessians, with no English except a few officers on the Duke's personal staff. Overpowered by very superior numbers, the Duke in vain attempted to obstruct the progress of the French, who Occupied Hanover. This result was almost inevitable from the first; but it gave occasion for the former enemies of the Duke to raise such an outcry against him that he was recalled. Upon his return to England the Duke's resolution was quickly taken: he at once resigned his regiment and all his military appointments; a not very friendly critic remarking, 'Thus did the harsh victor of Culloden surrender the darling passion and object of his ' life—the army-sooner than submit to what he deemed an un'founded aspersion on his conduct.' From that date his Royal Highness took no more part in public affairs, but directed the energies of his active mind to the Turf. Before the year was out he had a long string of horses in training at Newmarket, where he was a constant visitor, and a large breeding establishment in Windsor Great Park, with one Bernard Smith for his stud-groom. As a breeder of thoroughbred stock the Duke was most successful. Amongst the horses of note bred by him, King Herod, more commonly called Herod-a remarkably fine horse of great power-and Eclipse have earned the greatest names, both as runners and sires. The latter, foaled on the 1st of April, 1764, was got by Marske (a horse bred by Mr. John Hutton, a Yorkshireman, who disposed of him to the Duke) out of a Regulus mare the Duke had bought of Sir Robert Eden. Eclipse was a chestnut colt with a white stocking on his off hind leg, nearly up to the hock, and the Regulus blaze down his face. He was about fifteen hands two inches in height, but was higher behind, so that he carried the saddle very forward. He is described as having a bloodlike head and muzzle, very powerful loins and quarters, and remarkably muscular thighs and arms; the latter to such an extent as to give the appearance of his being light of bone below the knee. With respect to his shoulders accounts differ; but they all agree that they were exceedingly strong, but very wide at the top, and he seemed to be master of any weight. He went with his head low down, and with his legs very wide behind. In his sweats, we are told that 'he puffed and blowed like an otter.' The Duke was not destined to witness the performances of his wonderful colt. The old wound in his leg having become troublesome, and humours having settled in it, for the last few years of his life entirely prevented his taking the strong exercise to which he had been accustomed, and he grew very large and unwieldy. This led to an attack of paralysis, which the Duke treated with his usual pluck, and made light of; but a second attack in the following year, when he was on the point of starting for Newmarket, carried him off, and he faced death with as much calmness and composure as he had faced the bullets of the enemy. Upon his decease the stud were sold by auction at the Park Lodge. King Herod was purchased by Sir John Moore; Eclipse, then a yearling, was bought by Mr. Wildman, a sheep salesman, for fortysix guineas; and Marske, the sire of Eclipse, was picked up by a West-country farmer for ten guineas. A few years afterwards Marske's covering fee was one hundred guineas. OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE BOAT RACE, 1876. A FIGHT FOR HONOUR. IST CITIZEN. Saw you the contest, sir, on Father Thames, 2ND CITIZEN. I did, sir; and a grander sight than which IST CITIZEN. And prithee what's the use of these great What the reward of all this toil and care? What gain to those who carry off the palm? 2ND CITIZEN. What gain? Ne'er heard you of fair woman's smiles? Ne'er heard you of brave hearts who, far away, Bring back the memory of life's summer-dream, When youth was theirs, and they were in their prime, And pulled a stalwart oar in either boat, Or stood and shouted by the river-bank F. G. |