sleeps closely rolled up, and only stirs abroad in the night. He accumulates flesh fast. He is to a certain degree a hybernating animal, and, like the bear, exists in very cold weather in a semitorpid state. The badger, notwithstanding the semi-carnivorous character of his teeth, and the reputation he bears for destroying game, young lambs, &c., does not, when he is domesticated, show an inclination for animal matter, but, on the contrary, appears decidedly to prefer a vegetable diet. Indeed it may be observed in most cases, that where the dentition is not very strongly marked with carnivorous characters, that such animal is more inclined to a vegetable than to an animal diet. PLATE II. PEPPER, AN ACTIVE BURROW MEMBER. DRAWN AND ENGRAVED BY BECKWITH. Our second illustration for the present month is a clever portrait of a well-bred Terrier, the property of Mr. Beckwith, who very politely offered him to us as an appropriate subject for an embellishment in the "Sportsman." We confess that we are much pleased with the engraving, as it is the very counterpart of the original, who fully sustains the appellation which has been humorously given to him, of an active burrow member." Pepper is no conservative in principles, neither is he at all liberal, if we are to judge of him by his actions towards his opponents: we are of opinion that he belongs to an extreme class, in politics called destructives-certainly, he may not inappropriately be considered a distinguished member of that body, as he possesses in a pre-eminent degree all their charac teristics. The terrier forms a very valuable adjunct to the sporting list of the Canine, and was until of late years found appended to most foxhound packs: but tempora mutantur; and as foxes are much less frequently dug for than formerly, and as it was only then that the terrier was of use, either to draw or to inform the diggers by his baying whereabouts the fox lay, so his occupation being gone, he is dispensed with by most pack masters of the new school. There are also some active reasons-besides the passive one, of his not being wanted-why he should be left at home; a sufficient one is, that he is seldom steady from wing, if he is so from foot, and, as suchi, is often the cause of riot and confusion. The direct origin of the terrier, like that of many other well marked varieties of the dog, is involved in much obscurity. Some consider his antiquity questionable; while, on the other hand, it is not easy to mistake the dog so minutely described by Oppian for any other than the terrier. Buffon's synopsis classes him with the hound; nor is it at all improbable that he is thus derived; and that, by frequent intermixtures and crossings, he at length exhibits all the varieties we now meet with as to size, colour, and qualities. Two prominent varieties of the Terrier offer themselves to sporting notice, which are the rough and the smooth. The rough variety appears to have been nurtured in Scotland, although probably both the one and the other owe their variations more to locality and accidental crosses, than to any true specialty between them. The rigour of a northern climate is favourable to a crisped and curled coat, as we see in many instances; and a temperate one exhibits the smooth coating generally. In Scotland the terrier is much cultivated, and it is there met with of various sizes, as from sixteen inches to six. A few have long hair, but the greater number have the coat rough and crisped. A mixed breed between these two is recrossed to generate our best bull terrier; and the breed so generated is handsome, useful, and very courageous; nor is it usually savage or mischievous. But of prose enough: "And, that he may not keep us long, We'll just dismiss him in a song." I. "Terrier! Terrier!-where was your birth-place?" Worse for my pedigree, When morning air rings with the Huntsman's view hollo! Both come of one mother, Go forth with the Fox-hounds to find and to follow!' II. "Terrier! Terrier!-what occupation Is yours, when the Fox-hunter gives up his game?' The animals differ-the duty's the same: Now blood I am spilling Of Polecat-now killing The vermin that spoil your fair crops for their And it's often you'll find me, With master behind me, Fulfilling the office of rat-catcher's dog! prog: Good little Terrier!-sharp little Terrier!-quick little Terrier! Seize on the Rat! III. "Start a she-badger, and soon I will hurry her I nose it and nab it; Ah! then only think how unpleasant it feels! Be still, for the poacher Is guilty, not I; I but catch what he steals!' Sly little Terrier!-sharp little Terrier!-quick little Terrier! ADVENTURES OF A SPORTING GENTLEMAN. BY THE ROUGH RIDER. The next character that we must introduce to our readers, is the writing-master; and he was quite as original as the old classic: he seemed possessed of every faculty but common sense, and of that he had not a particle. He was an excellent mechanic-a tolerable arithmetician-and he fancied himself something of an astronomer, and was looked upon by his whole neighbourhood as a philosopher. He had published two or three almanacks; had made many weatherglasses; and had offered for sale to every London publisher two manuscript volumes, written and bound by his own hands, in refutation of the Newtonian system of philosophy. He always gave his own appellation as Mr. Tacher of Mauthemautics, at the Kang's school. As the head master of the school was deceived by the old verse-book, which we explained in our last paper, so the writing-master was wheedled into an indulgent mood by another system. There was generally some adventure going forward in the school, the planning of which was utterly incompatible with studying Horace, Euclid, or Walkingham; consequently it became necessary for some of the younger boys to get the writing-master into a friendly chat, whilst the others were laying their plans for a fishing excursion, which was perhaps to take place before sun-rise on the following morning. Probably intelligence had been brought in by some of the stragglers who had broken bounds, and wandered down the banks of the river, that several perch, some trout, and a large jack had been discovered in a deep hole, some three miles distant; when a determination was instantly declared that such hole was to be laved without further delay, and the fish secured. A public meeting was held in the school, and the junior boys were requested to bid against each other in offer to undertake certain duties, if they were allowed to join the party. It was the practice to keep a night watch, in order that the whole might be awakened at the appointed hour, and the younger boys undertook this part of the scheme. At the first public meeting at which our friend was present, he distinguished himself: the school was in full deliberation; one youngster mounted himself on the huge oak table, and offered to watch two hours; another undertook to borrow two buckets and a pail; another could get the use of a tanner's pump and shute. When it was enquired what the new boy would contribute if he were allowed to go, "Why," said he, "I shall be very glad to go, but I wont watch five minutes;" this candid avowal was received in good part, and he was at once installed in the habits of the King's school. The method of getting over the old writing-master was to draw him into a train of stories, which he had told over and over again, and in which he was generally the principal hero. He had seen something of the world, and we suspect many of its adversities, and some of his stories were not devoid of interest. "Now, Mr. A.," some youngster would whisper to him, "tell us that story of yours about Turpin." "Hauld your tongue, sir, and go on with your sum." "No, no, but, Mr. A., now do give us the story about Turpin." "Wall, wall,” said the old man, "than, about tharty years ago, when gontlemen wore swords, I was crossing Hounslow heath with one at my side." ("Oh, oh!" from different corners of the school.) This put the oid man on his mettle. "Silence, there; who was that laughing?-that new scholar shall be reported. Wall, I was crossing Hounslow heath, and a man approached me; he said nothing, but I saw that he meant to rob me, so I drew my sword, and said with a loud voice, 'Whoever approaches this, 'tas death.' The highwayman looked at me and walked away. Some years after I went to Tyburn, to see the end of that notorious highwayman, Dick Turpin, when I immediately recognized the man that I had vanquished upon Hounslow heath." A few youngsters would get round him, apparently listening with great interest, but which, in fact, was only to divert his attention from the party of eight or ten, who were holding a divan in the corner; and thus the hours appropriated to writing and cyphering were passed over. But, as we said before, some of the old man's tales were interesting, and the following, of the MURDERED BRAZIER," is not unworthy of being told in these papers. It appeared that his first career in life was of a very chequered character; he was an usher in a country writing school, and his principal friend was a plumber and brazier, to whom he imparted the art of dialling, which is, the mode of calculating and making sun-dials. It was in the autumn of 1770, that the present crime was perpetrated. The brazier was returning home at midnight, and when about a quarter of a mile from a country market-town, he was met and barbarously murdered, his head being literally beaten to atoms, and his body dragged into a field of standing corn. For many days the absence of the tradesman had been a matter of anxiety, and the writing-master used every exertion to discover his retreat. At length a most unpleasant effluvia by the road-side, caused a passing traveller to |