Cambridge and Sir W. Stanley, 106 grouse and 4 snipe. Lower Beat and Duncan's house: Lord Maidstone and the Hon. J. Macdonald, 122 grouse, 3 hares, and 3 snipe. Loch and Low Corrys: Lord Cantilupe, 48 grouse. Total, 276 grouse, 3 hares, and 7 snipe. Owing to the heavy rain, "the parties" did not begin shooting till half-past twelve. Sir William distinguished himself by his hitherto unaccustomed leniency towards the grouse, His Royal Highness shot extremely well.

August 26.-Home Beat: H. R. H. Prince George of Cambridge, 18 grouse and 2 black game. One of the wildest and rainiest days ever seen, and nothing but the keenness of His Royal Highness could have faced such a day. Prince George did not leave the house until three o'clock, and shot well and steadily all the afternoon.

August 27.-Rough and Smooth Corrys: H. R. H. Prince George of Cambridge and Sir William Stanley, 85 grouse, 1 hare, and 3 snipe. Berry Corry and part of Black Corry: Lord Maidstone and the Hon. J. Macdonald, 103 grouse, 2 hares, and 1 snipe. Massey's Beat: Lord Cantilupe, 69 grouse and 2 hares. Total, 257 grouse, 5 hares, and 4 snipe. The first really fine day of the season; the birds, however, very wild during the greater part of the day. The shooting not quite so fine as the weather.

August 28.-Home Beat: H. R. H. Prince George of Cambridge, Sir William Stanley, Lord Cantilupe, Lord Maidstone, and the Hon. J. Macdonald, 30 grouse, 43 ptarmigan, 55 hares, 1 snipe, and 1 plover. "Lofely" weather. Why do gillies do as little as they can for the money? Three of them wore out a moss bank by sleeping on it, although their masters were painfully struggling after ptarmigan supposed to be marked down in the Slow of Despond, which lay below them. Much pale ale consumed this day. August 29.-Wood Beat: Lord Cantilupe and Sir William Stanley, 122 grouse, 1 snipe, and 2 hares. Rough and Smooth Corrys: Lord Maidstone, 50 grouse, 1 snipe, and 3 hares. Total, 172 grouse, 2 snipe, and 5 hares. August 30.-Glenshiero and Ptarmigan Hill: H. R. H. Prince George of Cambridge, Lord Abercorn, Lord Maidstone, Lord Cantilupe, Sir William Stanley, Cluny, the Hon. F. Villiers, the Hon. W. Bagot, and the Hon. J. Macdonald, 29 grouse, 34 ptarmigan, and 33 hares. Much mist and rain.

September 1.-Duncan's Beat: Lord Maidstone, 160 grouse, 3 snipe, and 3 hares. John's Beat: Sir William Stanley and the Hon. J. Macdonald, 121 grouse, 1 hare, and 1 wild fowl. Parson's Beat: H. R. H. Prince George of Cambridge, 73 grouse and 1 hare. Total, 354 grouse, 3 snipe, 5 hares, and 1 wild fowl. A beautiful day, though the birds were generally wild.

September 2.-Corry Varnie: H. R. H Prince George of Cambridge, 69 grouse and 1 snipe. Cluny's Wood: Sir William Stanley, Lord Maidstone, Lord Cantilupe, the Hon. J. Macdonald, and Cluny, 0! A glorious day, with most inglorious sport. The five " gunners" wandered from home, went further and fared worse." Not the ghost of a deer (stags at a discount). His Royal Highness delighted with his day's sport.

September 3.-Black Corry: Lord Jocelyn and Sir William Stanley, 72 grouse and 2 hares. Corry Varnon: Lord Maidstone and Lord Cantilupe, 142 grouse, 5 snipe, and I plover. The Steward's Room, 1 grouse, 9 hares, and 19 ptarmigan. Total, 215 grouse, 11 hares, 5 snipe, 1 plover, and 19 ptarmigan. Lord Jocelyn home early, it being the eve of dispatching the overland mail.

September 4.-Corry round the house: Lord Maidstone and Lord Canti

lupe, 62 grouse and 2 snipe. Lord C. Russell, 21 grouse, 3 snipe, 1 plover, and 2 hares. Total, 83 grouse, 5 snipes, 1 plover, and 2 hares.

September 5.-Corry Varnon: Lord Maidstone, Lord Cantilupe, and Lord C. Russell, 79 grouse, 3 hares, 1 snipe, and 2 plovers. Glen Maskie : Cluny, 21 grouse, 1 hare, and 1 wild fowl. Total, 100 grouse, hares, 1 snipe, 2 plovers, and 1 wild fowl.

Grand total killed between August 12 and September 5, 1845:

Grouse
Various

We now return to Hooton. The house is extremely well kept up, and there are some good pictures in it. The dining-room contains a very sporting painting of the race for the Gold Cup, at Knutsford, in 1822; 3 miles; and which came off as follows:

There are also twelve other portraits of race-horses, an exquisite game piece by Schneider, and a landscape worthy of Poussin. The side-board can boast of thirty-five gold cups, won by the late Sir Thomas, father to the present baronet.

While upon the subject of racing in the hundred of Wirral, I cannot do better than give an account of English horse-racing in the olden time, and which is to be found in Mortimer's description of Leasowe Castle, the residence of Sir Edward Cust. "In the drawing-room is, among other valuable pictures, a very ancient one of a horse-race that occurred here in the days of James the First, including portraits of that monarch and his sons, sharing in the sport; in which also a buxom lady, in a carriage driven by servants in the royal livery, participates. The Wallasey Leasowe is probably the oldest gentleman's race-course in the kingdom, being noticed by Webb as existing in the early part of the seventeenth century. The races at the Rood Eye, at Chester, or at Smithfield, and other places, were comparatively the sports of a mere fair, and could offer no rivalry to the aristocratic amusements of the Leasowe course, which in 1683 had rather an illustrious jockey in the person of the famous Duke of Monmouth. Attended by a great retinue of gentry, the Duke was on a tour, courting popularity in the western counties. At Chester he condescended to become sponsor to the daughter of the Mayor of that city, and, amid the festivities attendant on that event, hearing that the principal families of the county had assembled at the Wallasey races, he went thither, and rode himself; which he won, and bequeathed the prize to his infant god-daughter.

"In addition to the high antiquity and noble jockeyship of the Leasowe race-course, it also claims to have once offered the highest prize in the kingdom; for, in 1721, the great families of the West entered into an agreement to subscribe liberally for a sweepstakes, to be run for ten seasons on this course. In conformity with this arrangement, the Grosvenors, Stanleys, Cholmondeleys, Egertons, Wynnes, and some others, subscribed twenty guineas each annually, and undertook that their own horses should be brought to contest the

stakes. The last of these races occurred in 1732: they were then removed to Newmarket, where, for many years, the ، Wallasey Stake' formed a leading prize; but the Leasowe continued to be a trial, or training-ground, until the middle of the last century. An old building in the village of Wallasey, said to have been the Grosvenor stable, yet exists, on the door of which the horses' plates remained until the last three or four years."

But I must dwell no more upon Hooton; for the phaeton is at the door, to convey me to Eastham ferry-Birkenhead and Liskard Hall. The new hotel at Eastham ferry is a remarkably handsome modern building, with gardens very judiciously laid out. It is beautifully situated upon the banks of the Mersey, with steam-boats constantly plying to Liverpool. From Eastham we proceeded to Birkennead. To those who, like myself, can remember this spot some ten years ago, the transformation is almost miraculous; but we will quote other authorities than our own, for the cursory glance I was compelled to take of it does not enable me to speak with that precision that I ought to do. Let one of the Liverpool journalists and a noble diplomatist describe the Aladdin-like change that has taken place. The Liverpool Journal writes as follows:

"A new Carthage has arisen on the left bank of the Mersey; and here, if you ascend as far as Oxton, the lines of Virgil will not be inappropriate

They climb the next ascent, and looking down,

Now at a nearer distance view the town;

The prince with wonder sees the stately towers
(Which late were hats, and shepherds' lowly bowers),
The gates and streets; and hears from every part
The noise and busy concourse of the mart.'

All is bustle, life, and activity. New streets, spacious squares, market-places, churches, chapels, crescents, paragons, and parades, have risen up; while picturesque villas dot the environs. The new Birkenhead improvements will consist of a new dock, two basins, a canal, an extended quay, and a railway to transport raw materials, and bring back manufactured goods. The site of this new city affords many advantages: pure air, good water, and proximity to one of the finest garden-parks in England."

The noble diplomatist, supposed to be the Earl of Clarendon, gives the following graphic account:

"I have made a very agreeable trip to Birkenhead, which is a place rising, as if by enchantment, out of the desert, and bidding fair to rival, if not eclipse, the glories of Liverpool. Seven years ago there were not three houses on that side of the Mersey; there are now about 20,000 inhabitants; and on the spot where within that time Sir William Stanley's hounds killed a fox in the open field, now stands a square larger than Belgrave-square, every house of which is occupied. At Liverpool there are now ten acres of docks, the charges for which are enormous; at Birkenhead there will be forty-seven acres, with rates two-thirds lower, which will gradually diminish until (supposing trade to continue prosperous) they will almost disappear, and the docks become the property of the public at the end of thirty years. It would

have been worth the trouble of the journey to make acquaintance with the projector and soul of this gigantic enterprise, a certain Mr. Jackson. With his desire to create a great commercial emporium proceeds, pari passu, that of improving and elevating the condition of the labouring classes there; and, before his docks are even excavated, he is building houses for three hundred families of work-people, each of which is to have three rooms and necessary conveniences, to be free of all taxes, and plentifully supplied with water and gas, for 2s. 6d. a week each family. These houses adjoin the warehouses and docks, where the people are to be employed; and thence is to run a railroad to the sea, and every man liking to bathe will be conveyed there for a penny. There are to be wash-houses, where a woman will be able to wash the linen of her family for two-pence; and 180 acres have been devoted to a park, which Paxton has laid out, and nothing at Chatsworth can be more beautiful. At least 20,000 people were congregated there last Sunday, all decently dressed, orderly, and enjoying themselves. Chapels, and churches, and schools for every sect and denomination, abound. Jackson says he shall create as vigorous a public opinion against the public-house as is to be found in the highest classes. There are now 3,000 workmen on the docks and buildings, and he is about to take on 2,000 more. Turn which way you will, you see only the most judicious application of capital, skill, and experience every thing good adopted, every thing bad eschewed, from all other places; and, as there is no other country in the world, I am sure, that could exhibit such a sight as this nascent establishment, where the best interests of commerce and philanthropy are so felicitously interwoven, I really felt an additional pride at being an Englishman."

The Liverpool Standard, in some comments upon the above letter, states that it is not true that seven years ago there were only three houses at Birkenhead, but that there were nearer three hundred. He adds that Hamilton Square had part of it built upon, and the centre enclosed more than twelve years ago; and that Liverpool, which is said to have one hundred and eleven acres of enclosed water-space, has upwards of nine miles quay-room, and forty acres of new docks now forming.

(To be continued.)

FRESH-WATER FARE.

ENGRAVED BY J. WESTLEY, FROM A PAINTING BY NIEMANN.

Some two years since, when, as the town reader has to be reminded, the country one to be informed, the open part of St. James's Park was wont on Sunday to be crowded with mad methodist preachers, rational philosophers, and total temperance lecturers, we once heard