49X DE VINDICATION OF THE PRINCE OF WALES FOR CHIFNEY We now come to speak of some transactions in which his royal highness was engaged at this period, and by which he incurred a very considerable, but, in our sincere opinion, wholly unmerited, share of obloquy. We allude to the Prince of Wales's connection with the turf. Athletic sports seem ever to have been favourites with the English nation, and it was no doubt sound policy to encourage them, inasmuch as the safety and independence of a nation must, in a great degree, depend upon the martial spirit and habits of its natives. Our ancestors, in their rude and boisterous sports, seem to have had two objects in view-to season the youth of England to firmness of mind and agility of body, or, in other words, to make them skilful in the science of offence or defence, and intrepid in the encountering of danger. And it must be confessed, that our national character, from the earliest records of our history, appears to have been admirably calculated to receive impressions of the kind here. described. The character of a native Englishman, undebased by any adventitious circumstances, is perhaps the noblest that the present race of men, in any quarter of the globe, can produce. In the hour of danger he is bold, in the moment of victory he is generous and humane. No nation that ever made war so frequently as the English nation could ever boast of such a series of victories, unsullied by any imputations of cruelty, as those that have at tended the arms of England in every quarter of the globe. There are undoubtedly unworthy exceptions; but the courage of Englishmen, in general, is unalloyed with any mixture of ferocity, and in many instances we have been at a loss whether most to admire, the invincible resolution or the matchless generosity of our heroes. The sports of England, for the most part, have a tendency to confirm this temper. They are boisterous, it is true, but at the same time admirably calculated to produce a manly and courageous spirit, without permitting the martial emotions to which they give rise to degenerate into cruelty or ferocity. This is exemplified in the contentions of the vulgar, and in our prize-fights. Nothing is allowed to superior strength the fallen antagonist, in such contests, is protected by a national law of honour (a law peculiar to English combatants) from the attack of his opponent, who, should he ungenerously strike his prostrate and helpless foe, would be sure to call down upon himself the indignation and the vengeance of all who beheld him. It |