Saying these words, he walked on, setting his dog at liberty, which had not ceased growling during the whole conversation, and whistling still more shrilly than before. Young, bold, with a dash of romance about them, the two friends, whom this meeting, this sort of beginning of an adventure had somewhat excited, piqued themselves on following it up; and Ernest declared that to hesitate would reflect upon the land from whence they came. They turned to the right, they followed the foot-path, the last faint gleam of parting day assisted them to discover that the indications of the goatherd were quite correct, and behold them, and their mules, installed in the cabin, warming themselves, and chatting at their ease. "The rogue is right," said Ernest, "these beams and walls are solid, and in case of need might hold against a regular siege. || For more safety, however, and to avoid the kicks and other nocturnal interruptions of our honest quadrupeds, let us place this old table against the door, and pick out the softest plank, 'twill serve one of us for a bed, the other for a seat, while || he keeps sentinel turn and turn about.— Good night, Ernest-I'm quite sleepycome, one bavin more, my boy, in the fire, come what may! are we not both safe from all surprise, and havn't we the capucin's poniard, and his rosary, at the service of all visitors?-Good night. Awake me in an hour-then you take a spell." Half seated on the angle of the table, Ernest yawned, rubbed his eyes, looked at his friend who slept as soundly on the hard board as on the softest down-bed, || and pushed back with his foot the pieces of charcoal which from time to time flew out of the hearth before him. Then resuming the capucin's box, he entertained himself with counting the beads of the rosary, began a pater, drew the poniard from its sheath, tried the point, and in jest, made pretence to strike with it his sleeping companion. Then he again examined closely the damasquining of the blade, made a resolution to take down an exact description of it in his note-book; amused himself with his shadow, which, thrown by the vacillating flame, flitted on the wall behind him, or danced even upon the placid face of his friend; followed up, lost, and resumed a thousand ideas which succeeded without order, and dispelled each other like the illusions of the magiclantern, when-on a sudden, he thought he heard in the distance, the shrill whistle of the goatherd, and the low growlings of his black dog. Then a singular spectacle attracted all his attention. The flame in the hearth kindled brighter, changed colour five or six times, and, opening, discovered, in the room of the chimney-plate, a large aperture, from which issued a light of the most dazzling red. This opening, instead of presenting those defined angles, those regular lines which indicate the work of man, seemed to be a fissure operated spontaneously, and attended with fantastical incidents, in the face of the wall. Ernest, upon stooping, perceived as though a confused procession of hideous brigands dressed in tatters, grouped picturesquely, armed with swords and pistols, some with carbines, others with bludgeons, from which hung small medals of yellow copper, and beads of rosaries; then more distinctly, and nearer to him, the figure of the goatherd, and his inseparable black dog. Ernest, holding his breath, stooped lower still, with his eyes fixed upon the aperture, when the muscular and hairy hand of the goatherd seized him, and before he could call for assistance, or think of resisting, he found himself, without knowing how, on the other side of the hearth. It was a long gallery. The goatherd, with an imperious air, and his finger pressed upon his lips, imposing silence, with an irresistible power, waved Ernest to follow him. They moved on, moved on, and onward still, sometimes ascending, descending; sometimes under vaults of prodigious height, at others through passages so low that they were compelled to creep upon all fours. Ernest followed his guide, with one hand free, while the other, thrust into the breast of his waist coat, twitched nervously the hilt of his poniard; he felt it difficult to account to himself for this strange promenade, and for his docility in following the wretch, without questions, explanations, or resistance. They arrived at a grated entrance: the goatherd rang three times, the grated gateway opened, and they ascended with extreme difficulty, a winding staircase, the steps of which were each more than eighteen inches high. They reached a badly-lighted chamber. On the steps the brigands were seen for a moment! On a table, a man with a white flowing beard, bound, and weeping in silence. At the sight of the stranger, all arose. "Gentlemen," said the goatherd, in a sonorous voice, while the black dog licked his bony hand, "here is a good catch! The trap has played its game, there is gold in these pockets."-" And steel in this hand!" exclaimed Ernest, hastily, pulling from beneath his dress the poniard he had held concealed. "Take that!" and rushing on the goatherd, he struck! A terrific cry was uttered at his side. Ernest! oh! the unfortunate Ernest, it was all a dream, and he had killed his friend! The next day, at the hour of siesta, the goatherd knocked in vain at the cabin door; he burst it in, and found with affright, two dead bodies, one stretched on a table, the other across the hearth-a few words written in pencil-embers extinguished in blood—a poniard, a rosary, a box of walnut-tree marked with the initials of the convent, and two mules, which had long stamped impatiently to get out into the open pasture. R. J. G. ARCHERY. As a delightful recreation, as a healthful exercise in the open air, we are not aware of any that can compete with archery, or the ancient and noble art of shooting with a bow. "Archery," as Mr. Waring observes, in his clever and very useful little Treatise on the subject,* "is an amusement which steals (if it may be so expressed) upon a man's affections, and often makes him perform more than he thinks is in his power, for many an archer who would not undertake to walk five miles on a journey, has walked six at the targets; for in shooting forty-eight times up to one target, and forty-eight times back again to the other (the number of rounds the Toxopbilite Society shoot on grand days) besides walking to the arrows shot beyond the targets, which, upon a reasonable calculation, may be reckoned five yards each time, and that five back again, makes ninety-six times one hundred "A Treatise on Archery, or the Art of Shooting with the Long Bow. Containing every requisite information to obtain a complete Knowledge of that Noble Weapon, considered as an instrument of amusement: to which is added, a Summary Sketch of Laws for Archers, with many other Observations and Instructions. By Thomas Waring." and ten yards, which is exactly six miles. Another advantage attending the amusement of archery, is, that it is equally open to the fair sex; having, for the last forty years, been the favourite recreation of a great part of our female nobility; the only field diversion they can enjoy, without incurring the censure of being thought masculine." In this view, we conceive that we shall afford a general gratification to the readers of LA BELLE ASSEMBLEE, by presenting them with a plate containing two accurately-drawn and beautifully-coloured female portrait figures of ladies, in the exact modern costume appropriated to the sport. Leaving, however, the immediate description of their attire to our able illustrator of the Fashions, we shall proceed to offer a few historic and miscellaneous remarks, for which we are, in substance, greatly indebted to Mr. Waring's Treatise already mentioned. * Archery has been, for many ages, a favourite diversion amongst the English, who were also much skilled in it, as a military exercise. Indeed, the English archers were the most celebrated in Europe, and were employed in the army * Vide page 118. long after the introduction of fire-arms. Formerly, there were two sorts of bows in use amongst us; namely, the long bow, and the cross bow: they who used the long bow were called archers, in distinction from the cross-bowmen. The Artillery Company of London arose from an ancient fraternity of archers and bowmen. A striking, and highly-graphic scene, in illustration of this, is given in one of the novels " The Monks of Leadenhall,” if we mistake not-by the author of "The Lollards, &c." Archery was so much approved of as a bodily exercise by Bishop Latimer, that he even preached a sermon in favour of it before Edward VI. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, when archery was again declining, the bow-makers petitioned the Queen for authority to put the acts of Henry VIII. in force, by which they obliged every man who had not a bow and three arrows in his possession, to provide himself accordingly.* In the time of James I., the inhabitants round London again began to encroach upon the grounds belonging to the London archers; and upon the citizens petitioning the King against such proceed Archery was in former times thought of such importance as to become the object of the legislature's care; many acts of parliament of various periods having been framed in support of it, long after it had been laid aside as a military art. These acts went so far as to compel every man, except the clergy and the judges, to practise shooting, and to have continually in his possession a bow, and at least three arrows. By other acts, the city of London was obliged to erect butts, and to keep them in repair.* Edward III. wrote to the sheriffs, com-ings, he appointed commissioners to inmanding them to see that the people laid aside the games they then practised, which he called dishonest and unprofitable, and to exercise themselves with bows and arrows; and, in the year 1498, many gardens were levelled and made into one field, for the use of the London archers, which is now the Artillery Ground, near Finsbury Square. In 1514, the inhabitants of Islington, Hoxton, and Shoreditch, having enclosed the fields which had been appropriated for the exercise of archery, into gardens, the citizens of London assembled in great numbers, and with spades and pick-axes levelled the banks and ditches, and restored the grounds to their former state. quire into the grievances complained of, and if true, to see that the grounds were restored to the state they were in at the beginning of the reign of Henry VIII. After the Restoration, archery became the general amusement. Charles II. himself took such delight in it, that he knighted a gentleman-Sir William Wood-for excelling an excellent shot. Sir William's portrait is in the possession of the Toxophilite Society: on his tomb-stone were the following lines: : Long did he live, the honour of the bow, After the death of Charles II., the art again declined, and was confined in prac The Bowyers' Company is one of the ancient companies of the city of London. A bowyer, dwelling in London, was to have always ready, fifty bows of elm, witch-hazel, or Henry VIII. was particularly fond of archery, and commissioned Sir Christopher Morris, master of the ordnance, to revive the amusement, which at that time was rather drooping, by establishing a society of archers, which was called, "The Fra-ash, well made and wrought, on pain of ten ternity of St. George," who obtained a charter from the King, with many privileges, in which was this remarkable passage:-" That if any archer killed a man, he could not be sued, or in any way molested, if he had, before he shot, called out 'fast!" a word common at that time. Many places indicate by their names where the Butts were erected; as Newington Butts, Brentford Butts, &c. shillings for every bow wanting; and to sell them at certain prices, under the penalty of forty shillings. Stat. 8 Eliz. c. 10.-And parents and masters were to provide, for their sons and servants, a bow and two shafts, and cause them to exercise shooting, on pain of 6s. 8d., &c., by our ancient statutes: 12 Edward IV.; 33 Henry VIII. By a statute of 7 Henry IV. c. 7, all heads of arrows shall be well brased, and hardened at the point with steel, on pain of forfeiture and imprisonment; and to be marked with the mark of the maker. tice to a few counties only, till about fifty || years ago, when it was revived with increased splendour throughout every part of England. Since that period between forty and fifty societies of archers have been instituted, many of which exist and continue their yearly and monthly meetings. posite side, and she admires with delight what she before treated with contempt. It is the method of our best archers, as they raise the bow, to draw it three parts of the way-then pause to take aimthen draw it quite up to the head, and instantly loose, for it should not be kept upon the stretch more than a second or two, for fear of breaking. The best of bows when drawn up to the head of an arrow, are full seven-eighths towards being broken; for, pull a bow up an eighth more above the arrow's length, and it is almost impossible it should escape. Independently of the benefits resulting from archery as a healthful exercise, it is certain that the human figure cannot be displayed to greater advantage than when drawing the bow. Madame Bola, formerly a celebrated opera dancer, declared, on being taught the use of the bow, that, of all the attitudes she had ever studied—and her whole life had been spent in studying attitudes-that of shoot-mark. ing with the long bow was the most noble and graceful she had ever seen. A few incidental hints from Mr. Waring's Treatise, and, for the present, we have done at a future period we may possibly find occasion to offer some illustrations of a different character. There never was a mistaken notion more prevalent, than that the bow is too simple to require any study; but, simple as it may appear, it will be found that without a theoretical knowledge, the practical part never can be obtained, and so many inconveniences arise to a person attempting one without having acquired the other, that he soon grows disgusted, because not able to overcome it. These difficulties Mr. Waring wishes to remove, by pointing out to the learner a proper method to pursue; for, many thinking it to be so insignificant as not worth a moment's study, adopt, what their own ideas || suggest, and thereby fall into such bad habits, as to break bow after bow, till at last they get disheartened from pursuing the amusement any further, and lay it aside altogether, as appearing to them trifling and childish, and in the end expensive. These, and other vexations, arise through not beginning in a proper way at || first. A lady, witnessing the performance of an unskilful archer, wonders how she can amuse herself with what she remembers was only looked upon at school as a toy; but when she beholds expert shooting, and is shewn the strength and powers of the bow, her wonder changes to the op Observe That no part of the front of the body is to be turned towards the Only the face-for instance. If the mark be placed full south, the body ought to be opposite the west, the face looking over the left shoulder. The heels should be about six or seven inches apart. The head to incline a little downward over the breast. In holding the bow, the top of the hand must be level with the top of the handle, for as the resistance from each end is where the bow is held, so if the hand be shifted the centre of action is changed accordingly. The left arm, which holds the bow, must be held out quite straight, with the wrist turned in as much as possible. By this means, the bow, by being grasped only very easy, will rest firm in the hand; but if the wrist be not turned in, the strength of the bow falling upon that joint, prevents the archer from resisting the pressure of it; therefore, the bow never can be drawn up with firmness to the head of the arrow. Remember then, that the arm be so turned in, that the string strikes it when loosed. The bow must be held completely perpendicular. When taking aim, the arrow is to be brought up towards the ear-not to the eye, as many suppose. When drawing the bow, let the whole of the hand rest upon the handle, yet let the part between the thumb and finger feel the most pressure. The arrow is carried under the string, and over the bow; the arrow still held by the middle, till the pile reaches the left hand; the fore-finger of which is thrown over it, while the right hand retreats back to the nock, to look for the cock feather, which, when found, the arrow being held between the thumb and finger, is slid down the bow, and fixed upwards on that part of the string which is exactly opposite the top of the handle. It will be observed, that every bow has generally a number over the handle, which is the number of pounds it takes to be suspended on the string, to draw the bow down to the length of an arrow. Thus a man, according to the bow he can pull, may judge of his own strength; fifty pounds the standard weight-and || he who can draw one of sixty with ease, as his regular bow, may reckon himself a strong man; though some can draw a bow of seventy and eighty pounds, but they are very few. A man has to exercise double the strength that the bow is marked; for if he draw one of fifty pounds with his right || hand, he must have the same strength in the left to resist that pull. It has often happened, that where ladies' and gentlemen's bows and arrows have been promiscuously laid together, for a person to take up a lady's bow, and, not knowing any difference, a gentleman's arrow, which has stood till drawn up to the twenty-four inches, but when pulled beyond that, has snapped in several pieces. A gentleman, on no account whatever, ought to take up a lady's bow, even with a proper arrow; for, it being made much inferior to his strength, yields so easily to his pull, that he unconsciously draws it up beyond the power the bow will bear. It is customary on "Grand Days," particularly on the "Lady Patroness's Meeting," for the members to invite ladies, and in the evening to give a ball in the pavilion; on which occasion, the ladies, in compliment to the archers, generally form part of their dress of green. We conclude with an excellent article of the Toxophilite Society—an article which, it is presumed, must prove generally UNIVERSALLY - satisfactory: - if any member marry, he shall treat the rest Ladies' bows are from twenty-four with a marriage-feast! pounds to thirty-four. |