and although little P. was sickened, yet the bait of 150 guineas found plenty of customers. Some of them the greatest adepts in the kingdom, gave the baron at starting three points in the game; but the baron's accidental good play was so superior, whenever a great stake was down, he at last gave three points to those who had given him three points, and still beat them-by accident. And before the billiard knowing ones at Bath would stop, the baron had won nearly ten thousand pounds, with which he made a bow and came to London. But this Dutch Nobleman's fame travelled almost as fast as himself, and he was found out; not, however till he had sweated some of the most knowing gentlemen of the queue. He concealed his play so well, that no one could form an idea of its extent. To the best billiard-players he gave points, and always won on important occasions. He seemed to be a very conjuror, commanding the balls to roll as he pleased; and there was nothing to be named, that it is not supposed he could accomplish. But the most entertaining part of his story is the style of reprobation in which the professors of the queue spoke of his concealment of his play. They execrated him as guilty of nothing short of cheating; they, whose daily practice it was to conceal their play, and angle on the gudgeons with whom they engaged-they bitterly reviled the Dutch baron for retorting their own artifice, and entrapping them in their own way. And who was the Dutch Baron? asks every one who hears of his achievements. In Hamburgh, he was marker at a billiard table! WORDS TAKEN LITERALLY. A farmer in Lincolnshire had a greyhound, which was generally his kitchen companion, but having a parlour party, he ordered his dog to be tied up. About an hour after he inquired of the servant if he had done as he directed. "Yes, Sir, I has."-" Very well," "I dare say he is dead before now."-" Why, damn you, you have not hanged him!" rejoined the master. "Yes, Sir, you bid me tie him up!" "ALL HIS FAULTS." A celebrated veterinarian writer was once requested to give a professional opinion upon a new purchase, from one of the fashionable receptacles, for figure, bone, speed, and perfection; when, upon the purchaser's anxious inquiry whether it was not a fine horse, and exceeding cheap at forty, the cautious examiner felt himself in the awkward predicament of acknowledging he certainly was, had he possessed the advantage of seeing his way in or out of the stable! "Seeing his way in or out! why, what the devil do you mean?""nly that this paragon of perfection is totally blind! Was he warranted sound to you?"-"No, I bought him with-all his faults!" THE SEA HORSE. A captain of a West-Indiaman wished to purchase a horse; in consequence be applied to a well-known character, who sold him one. After the purchase had been made, the captain observed-"Well, now the horse is mine, pray tell me candidly whether he has any faults, and what they are." "What do you mean to do with him?" replied the other. Why to take him to sea," said the Captain, "to the West Indies." "Then I will be candid (replied the dealer,) he may go very well at sea, but on land he cannot go at all, or I would not have sold him." THE FIDELITY OF A DOG. In a village situated between Caen and Vire, on the borders of a district called the Grove, there dwelt a peasant of a surly untoward temper, who frequently beat and abused his wife, insomuch that the neighbours were sometimes obliged, by her outcries, to interpose, in order to prevent farther mischief. Being at length weary of living with one whom he always hated, he resolved to get rid of her. He pretended to be reconciled, altered his behaviour, and on holidays invited her to walk out with him in the fields for pleasure and recreation. One summer evening, after a very hot day, he carried her to cool and repose herself on the borders of a spring, in a place very shady and solitary. He pretended to be very thirsty. The clearness of the water tempted them to drink. He laid him self down all along upon his belly, and swilled large draughts of it, highly commending the sweetness of the water, and urging her to refresh herself in like manner. She believed him, and followed his example. As soon as he saw her in that posture, he threw himself upon her, and plunged her head into the water, in order to drown her. She struggled hard for her life, but could not have prevailed but for the assistance of a dog, who used to follow, and was fond of her, and never left her: he immediately flew at the husband, and seized him by the throat, made him let go his hold, and saved the life of his mistress. LINES ON THE LATE MR. DAWSON. While honest Frank Dawson has giv'n up the ghost, When death drops the flag, there's an end to the race; Gg of the Beef-Stake Club A ACCOUNT of Cavannagh, a celebrated fives player A dog stung to death by bees Anecdote of Pliny Athletic sports in America An epitaph on a spaniel, much lamented by all the members Anecdote of Major Topham and Mrs. Wells Animals, birds, and fowls, sporting, races, &c. among the Afghauns An account of the Dutch game of Kolven Page 26 23 52 64 71 73 77 82 97 99 Account of the Highland sports An enormous boar killed in the forest of Wallincourt by the An ingenious morality on chess, by Pope Innocent An original invitation sporting card Anecdote of Ryley, author of the "Itinerant," and Emery of Covent Garden Theatre Aerial combat A sporting biographical sketch of William Habberfield, slangly Anecdotes of the late Lord 'rford' A card table compared to a he'd of battle 163 172 144 181 200 A horse run twenty miles in fifty-four minutes |