BAILY'S MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF SPORTS AND PASTIMES. THE EARL OF CRAVEN. To the Lover of the Leash, the disciple of Izaak Walton, and the practical game shot, the portrait of the Nobleman on the opposite page will be perused with no ordinary satisfaction, inasmuch as it is a striking likeness of the Maestro in all these branches of Field Sports. It will, moreover, render still more familiar the features of one of those English Peers whose name is never associated with aught but good deeds, and who is beloved among his own tenantry, as amid his own connections, sharing in the sports of the poor as heartily as he partakes of the recreations of his equals. William Craven, Earl of Craven, in the county of York, Viscount Uffington and Baron Craven of Hamstead Marshall, in the county of Berks, Recorder of Coventry, and High Steward of Newbury, was born on the 18th of July, 1809, and succeeded to the title on the 30th of July, 1825. He was educated at Eton, and took his degree at Oxford. The ample estates which devolved upon him, rendered the choice of a profession unnecessary; and he was enabled to gratify that taste for field sports which is hereditary with his family, and which has been evinced by the immense number of Stakes which have been called after his ancestors, as well as the First of the Newmarket weeks. It is rather strange, however, that to the Turf the subject of this memoir never took so keenly as many of his family, giving the preference to the leash, the rod, the covert, and the stubble; and the only race-horse we believe he ever had an interest in was Wild Dayrell, who was trained in Ashdown Park for the Derby, and of whom he had a leg. It is therefore impossible to associate his name with any of those highmettled racers of old on whose merits sporting writers are so fond of dwelling. Retired in his habits, Lord Craven has sought other theatres for a display of those qualities as a Sportsman which he is well known to possess. The coursing-field has been his chief arena; and a more unequalled one than his own Ashdown hills is not to be VOL. VIII.-NO. 56. 2 H met with through the length and breadth of the land. To the Meetings which are held there in the autumn and spring, in a great measure the revival of coursing may be attributed; and, from the zeal in which the members of his family, and his Lordship's own connections join in the pursuit, an impetus has been given to the sport which it sadly lacked, and which is not likely to abate. This passion for the greyhound is shared equally by the Ladies Craven, all of whom run their dogs both at Ashdown and Altcar, and take as keen an interest in the sport, and evince as intimate an acquaintance with its laws, as the learned and accomplished Stonehenge' himself. On the occasion of these Meetings, which are to the Courser what Goodwood is to the racing man, not the least pleasurable feature is to witness the horsemanship of their Ladyships, which combines the extremes of grace and nerve, while their seats would serve as a model for an artist to perpetuate either in stone, or on canvas. In recognition of the services rendered to this section of the sporting community, in placing his downs and his hares at their disposal for so many years, and preserving the latter so rigidly for the Meetings, it was resolved last year to present his Lordship with a picture commemorative of the Great Southern Reunion of Coursers, and which should be an heir-loom in the family. With this view, a meeting of the most influential patrons of Ashdown was called in London, a subscription entered into, and Mr. Stephen Pearce, of Queen Anne Street, one of the first artists of the day as regards Sporting subjects, was selected to perpetuate the scene, which so often presented itself, of his Lordship, surrounded by his family and friends, engaged in their favourite pastime. How the artist has succeeded in his efforts it would be unfair to state, inasmuch as, although presented to Lord Craven in the commencement of the year, it is yet unfinished, and not ready for the engraver. The delay has arisen from the desire of Mr. Pearce to bestow upon his work the most finished pains, and render it, as it ought to be considered, a national picture.' When completed, and given to the world, there can be little doubt but it will have the same hold on the public mind, and take the same position among sporting works, as The Melton Breakfast' in Leicestershire, and The Meet at Ascot Heath' in the South of England. Long as Lord Craven has been engaged in coursing, he has not been very successful with his dogs, his best being Colchicum, Commercial Traveller, and Cure. In other sports, however, his Lordship is very difficult to be beaten; and, as far as regards shooting and fishing, he is considered nulli secundus. As a mechanic, he is also endowed with considerable ability, and is, perhaps, the best amateur turner in the country; and at Combe Abbey, one of his seats near Coventry, his Lordship had a tool-house fitted up with instruments of the first class and the most costly character. To the study of photography he has also devoted himself with the happiest results; and it would be difficult to find a Nobleman in whom are blended so many acquirements and virtues, and who is less ostentatious in displaying them to the world. Óf his charities in private life it is difficult to speak, as they are of such a liberal nature; and the same almost may be said of him as of the late Prince Poniatowski-that it would be dangerous to purchase a horse from him, for nothing would make him pass a beggar until he was relieved. Lord Craven, we should add, was married to Lady Emily Grimston, and by his union with her has nine children. His eldest son, Lord Uffington, held a commission for a short time in the Guards, but ill-health compelled him to retire. Sharing his father's tastes, he bids fair to profit by his example, and retain the popularity of the name of Craven. AUTUMNAL LEAVES. BY THE GENTLEMAN IN BLACK. THERE seems to be a certain time of the year when everybody. wants rest, or change, or recreation. Of late years the Continent has presented an opportunity to the many of gratifying their vanity or their curiosity at so little expense that the beau monde has made a virtue of necessity, and indulges its latent patriotism. That spirit of swelldom' which peopled the Rhine, and the galleries, and Thun, Interlachen, Lucerne, and the baths of Germany and BelEgium, has dwindled into insignificance; and the many-headed monster, with its excursion trains and circular tickets, reigns supreme. What has become of the English aristocracy? Where does the British Milord, that much-mistaken and much-misrepresented character, hide its head during the months of August and September? Perchance the increased Race Meetings in our own country, or the love of his native heather,' or the increasing demands of a tenantry or constituency, has influenced the lords of the soil in their decision. Be that as it may, I never recollect a season in which the dearth of good English has been so conspicuous over the ordinary routes of the Continent. The Germans, on the contrary, a domestic people and an economical, have taken heart of grace,' and have sported the siver groschen and the kreuzer, in the absence of the dollar and the sovereign, and have come forth to view the beauties of their own lands. Military prowess must not be hidden under a bushel. The conquerors of Schleswig and Holstein, and the man in possession of Jutland itself, shall no carouse in his silent halls on krout and potato-salad, but start into life a fashionable gourmand and roué, such as great conquerors are wont to be. more I confess that I have neither heather nor stubble. I am not personally interested in York; Worcester would scarcely miss me; and even the St. Leger would be run in my absence. I never, like the daughters of Danaus, yet opened my arms to embrace a shower of gold at either of those places. I have no vocation to a Caledonian August or British September. Therefore I go abroad. I see men and manners as the cunning Ulysses of old-bad manners, it is |