retired from the public practice of gymnastics; but his system, modified, and to a certain extent improved, is still carried out by two professors, who were at different times his assistants-Mr. Harrison, of Jamesstreet, Haymarket, and Mr. Arnold, of Old Bond-street, either of whose schools will amply repay a visit from any one who is interested in the study of anatomy, or the manly sports of Old England. It is this system which I shall now attempt to describe, hoping that should my imperfect delineation induce any young or middle-aged man to improve, as far as is in his power, the bodily gifts with which Nature has endowed him, he will not regret the perusal of these few hasty pages, having tempted him to that course of wholesome toil which is the very sweetener of our existence. As in wrestling, so in gymnastics, festina lente has ever been the motto: certainly the French professor hurried no man's cattle." We will suppose the individual who sought his assistance to be a pale, bald, middle-aged man, such as in this dyspeptic country we cannot walk down Piccadilly without meeting a dozen of; ten stone in weight, soft and flabby in body, and wofully attenuated in limb, who, when every thing else had failed, when doctors had prescribed sea-bathing, and friends recommended travel, in vain, had in a propitious moment stumbled on an old schoolfellow, who said, "Try what Hamon can do for you they tell me he is a wonderful fellow!" Such is the man who walks into the lofty gymnasium, and scanning the different implements, as of torture, which furnish that apartment, with very much the same feelings that creep over him in a dentist's waiting-room, places himself, a puny, trembling Neophyte, in the hands of the master. Let us see how he treats the new pupil. In the first place, then, having weighed him carefully, and measured him accurately round the upper and forearm, the chest, and the waist, his specific gravity and feeble proportions are entered in a book, in order that there may be no mistake as to the future improvement which is sure to take place in his figure, supposing him to be in earnest, and resolved to give his treatment a fair chance. This form having been gone through, the beginner, somewhat to his disappointment, is requested to resume his under-clothing and waistcoat, and is put through a few of the simplest of those exercises which we may see practised in any barrack-yard under the name of "Extension motions. Long ere he can experience the slightest sensation of fatigue, he is warned to leave off, and much astonished to learn that his lesson for the day is over-the first object of the instructor being to avoid such an amount of exertion as should entail stiffness, and prevent a repetition of the lesson on the morrow. For many a day after, he continues to doubt the efficacy of such gentle labours as those to which he is restricted, and to look with a kind of incredulous envy on the feats performed by his more advanced class-fellows. All this time, however, " his muscles are insensibly becoming tougher, and although he cannot explain the cause, he is conscious of having lost that disinclination to active exercise which is in itself symptomatic of disease. At length, after many fruitless entreaties for promotion, he is called to the Bar," and we must now explain the nature and uses of this indispensable auxiliary to the gymnasium. 66 The Bar is a pole of from nine to ten feet in length, its material being ash or lancewood, of that exact thickness which enables the hand to grasp it firmly, without allowing the fingers to close over its entire surface, and is placed horizontally between two strong uprights, well riveted at either end to the floor and ceiling. To these it should be fastened by iron pegs, like those of the leaping-bar in a riding-school, so as to admit of its being raised or lowered according to the height of the pupil. Its correct altitude is that which he can just reach with a slight spring, and from which he can swing with his arms extended above his head, and his feet clear of the floor. In this attitude his lesson will commence; nor will he be permitted to do more than hang by his hands, as the ring-tailed monkey hangs from his caudal-ornament until his grasp has become sufficiently strong, and his muscles sufficiently tough, to allow of his raising his body, by means of his arms, till the chin is on a level with the bar. This he will be told to do three or four times in what he is taught to term the "three positions-the first, with the nails downwards, or as we should say, with the foil "in tierce;" the second, with the nails upward, or "in carte ;" and the third compounded of the other two, the right hand being in tierce, and the left in carte. When he can pull himself up to his chin say four times in these three positions, with an interval of a few minutes' rest between each, he may be said to have taken his first degree in gymnastics. In my younger days we used to consider twelve of each, when alternated with other exercises equally severe, as first-class work; but I have seen men pull themselves up as many as thirty and forty times. Let any one who doubts such a feat requiring sinews of very steel, attempt only half that number, and if I mistake not he will cry "Enough!" ere even that half is accomplished. Such extra-work is, however, highly injurious, save to the practised gymnast, and was never permitted by the gentleman to whom I refer, except to the very best of his scholars after a long course of training. It is needless to enlarge upon the benefits of this exercise, when taken in moderation, in developing the muscles of the arms and shoulders, more particularly those termed the biceps and deltoid, in strengthening the hands and wrists, giving free play to the lungs, and vigour and pliancy to the back and loins. It has, besides, this merit, that it can be practised wherever eight or nine feet of house-room are to be obtained; and comprising as it does the principal advantages of most other exercises, may be justly termed the very alphabet and foundation of gymnastics. With a bar such as I have described, the different portions of the human body may be strengthened to an incredible degree. In addition to the simple effort of pulling up to the chin, its uses may be multiplied ad infinitum. Clinging by the hands, and travelling backwards and forwards its entire length, will greatly enlarge the shoulders and dorsal proportions of the upper frame-work; whilst the same practice with the whole body raised above its level, supported and, as it were, walking upon the palms, tends to give a degree of firmness and strength to the wrist and fore-arm, which the horseman, the swordsman, or the tennis-player will find of incalculable advantage. To attempt a description of all the methods in which it may be brought into play would be impossible in the space of a short paper like the present; nor would a folio volume convey half such an insight into the subject as one short visit to any gymnasium during the hours of practice. Besides the bar, the inquirer may there see a hundred other devices for the production and increase of strength-many that can only be explained by witnessing an actual performance on the instrument; but to all of which, the invalid in whose opening career we have taken an interest will in due time be introduced. Amongst the principal articles of furniture that meet our astonished gaze, we will enumerate "the ropes," which dangle loose from the roof some three feet apart, and to ascend which, in nautical form, "hand-over-hand," without assistance from the legs, argues no small share of power in all the upper part of the body. "The pole," like that to which at rustic festivals a coating of grease is added as a polish, while a leg of mutton surmounts it as a capital, and to reach the top of which, even when divested of such accessories—more particularly if the feat must be performed independent of "swarming"-and by strength of arm alone, requires a stalwart pair of shoulders, and a gripe of steel. Here we see "the parallel-bars," along which the young athlete moves by his wrists and arms alone, with a jerking sidelong motion, the whole weight of his body resting upon his hands, which are placed about the level of his hips. There, inclining downwards over our head, at an angle of fortyfive with the roof, grins the ladder, from spoke to spoke of which the pupils swing with graceful confidence and ease, or swarm up and down its slippery sides with the velocity of the hawk, and-shall we confess it?-the activity of the monkey. Turn, and almost perpendicularly propped against the wall you will see a plank some six inches wide, up which in your ignorance you would say no creature but an insect could crawl. A fine young man, six feet in height, and reminding you in his close-fitting Jersey shirt of the proportions of the gladiator, is bending his athletic form to what seems at first sight a hopeless task. Seizing the plank firmly by both sides, with his knees almost touching his chin, and his back rounded to a semicircle, he forces his feet against its surface, and so obtaining a purchase, proceeds by sheer physical strength step by step to the very top of his arduous undertaking, and, descending as he went up, has regained his wind long ere you have ceased to gape, breathless with astonishment. These are only a few of the more striking exercises which are most effective-looking and interesting to the spectator; but in the school from which I draw my imaginary sketch, for every muscle the anatomy of the human frame can show there is an instrument, the proper use of which shall bring that particular muscle to its highest possible state of strength and efficiency. In six months' time the pale, bald, flabby invalid has become a ruddy, stout-built, muscular man. I cannot quite acknowledge that his hair has grown; but with his hat on, he looks ten years younger than he has looked for the last fifteen; and with increased weight, health, and spirits, he will tell you he feels like a boy again. Already in his newlyacquired confidence he talks of learning to spar. Truly if he be quick and cool-two absolute essentials in that art-he has strength and activity enough to become an awkward customer to the best of amateurs ; and should he care for hunting, shooting, fishing, or the sports of the field, he will find that he can "hold a puller," wield a rod, and handle a gun with a strength and dexterity which he never enjoyed in the best days of his youth. This is not fabulous or imaginary. The columns of that book which I have mentioned [as containing the progressive weights and sizes of M. Hamon's pupils can disclose some wonderful facts, as regards the power of gymnastics in increasing the proportions of its votaries. There we shall find a twelve-stone man, in the short space of half a year, increasing the size of his upper arm from eleven to fourteen inches; and it must be borne in mind that such increase, from its very nature, must be purely muscular, whilst he gains five or six more in girth of chest, and loses nearly in the same proportion round the waist. Nor is this an isolated case extracted from a multitude; but on the contrary, the average effect of perseverance in the treatment we have endeavoured to describe. Many people run away with the idea, that the violent exertions required for gymnastic feats must be injurious to health; and this would be true enough in their own cases, were it possible for them to attempt the feats which excite their astonishment. But it cannot be too much insisted on that the very essence of all training is its gradual completion, and that those tours de force which to the uninitiated appear scarcely human, are to the adept, exulting in the ease and elasticity which strength and practice afford, a positive enjoyment and delight. Who then would be a "puny whipster," when he has it in his own power to become a strong and wiry man? Who would wear a bloated covering of unnecessary fat, when he might with energy and perseverance reduce his proportions to those of activity and grace? Why should the "human form divine" be disfigured by excess and indolence, when Nature herself points the way to health and vigour? "Sweet are the uses of adversity" to our moral being; and thus sweet and beneficial, indeed, to our physical welfare are the effects of bracing and salutary toil. A WEEK WITH THE TIVERTON FOXHOUNDS, AND THE DEVON AND SOMERSET STAGHOUNDS. BY LINTON. "On the moor amid the dark woodlands, and o'er the green vales of the west." "Unharboured now, the royal stag forsakes His wonted lair; he shakes his dapple sides, Under the wise system of doing the duty that lies nearest to you, and then extracting all the happiness you can from the resources within your reach, presuming that I had attended to the former, I took advantage of the latter, and availing myself of railway conveyance-which has so effectually annihilated distance, without material injury to hunting-I started on the morning of Monday, the 11th ult., which broke as bright and cheery as sun could make it, notwithstanding the coldest of easterly winds that ever visited the southern vales of merry England in the middle of April, to the destruction of vegetation, as the reddening of men's noses, for that pleasant little inland town of the west, which claims our Right hon. Home Secretary as its representative in the Parliament D house of Commons now assembled. How the Right honourable and highly talented gentleman attained that honour in the first instance, not having, as I ever heard, a rood of land in the neighbourhood, or previous connection with the pretty little town, when so many good men and true were at hand with abilities and means to attain that high calling, I might possibly be enabled to elucidate; but I will not, for it would only come second-hand. Moreover, he is, or was, a sportsman wont to hunt, shoot, and race; and as the good people of Tiverton appear entirely satisfied, and justly so, with their representative, having returned him without opposition on a late occasion, and as a very pleasant little man, who chanced to act as my hair-cutter, pronounced him to be a first-rate "horator" and a perfect gentleman, though advancing in years, I confess myself equally satisfied. However, if memory fail me not, I well recollect having read or heard a somewhat quaint story attributed to the immortal genius Tom Sheridan, who, when candidate for a Cornish borough, informed his father, the celebrated Richard Brinsley Sheridan, that if he succeeded he should place a label on his forehead, with the words "to let," and side with the party that made the best offer. It is possible the talented Home Secretary may have found such a lodging to let at Tiverton; but who can say ?-not I, and it is not right to "judge " any man. However, for the sake of those who may desire and be enabled on some future occasion to participate in the real sporting pleasures which I confess to have fallen to my lot, I will briefly name that the rural town of Tiverton is easily gained in a few hours by the Great Western Railway, from the metropolis. It is a remarkably pleasant little town, boasting of two inns, at either of which every comfort and accommodation can be obtained, on reasonable terms, for both man and horse. The situation is beautiful, and the neighbourhood, to all lovers of nature, is replete with charms. The river Exe waters and glides through the town, running southwards towards Exeter, flowing from its point of junction with the Barle near Dulverton-the " capital" of Red Deer hunting, a distance of twelve miles through one of the richest and most picturesque woodland vales in merry England; in fact, as our Irish friends would say, it is a gem of a vale. The waters of the Exe, through the whole distance, sparkle and wind like a snake; alive with trout, the flavour of which I can testify from practical and ample proof, and, although these waters are principally preserved, if I may judge from the hospitality and kindness of those whose right gives might, I should say to ask in all courtesy would be to obtain permission unreservedly. But I am now at Tiverton; and having quitted the train, I walked through the little town to obtain a glance of its beauties, ere I proceeded to the residence of Mr. Carew, of Collipriest, whither I had been most kindly invited to join a pleasant party, and share in the joys of the chase, both as regards foxhunting and red-deer hunting-a splendid sport, pursued with renewed vigour on the only* hunting-ground in Old England, or, indeed, in Europe, where the wild deer, forced by tufters from his native lair, faces the open vales and moorlands, not seldom affording a chase of twenty miles. But of this more anon. * Red deer have been hunted from their native lair in the New Forest, but only on occasions, since the destruction of these beautiful animals was decided on by the Legislature. |