By this means, the muscles of the body will be well markedthey will not be obstructed, and the interstices will not be filled up, and the contour rounded by superfluous fat or fluid-the lungs will also play free from obstruction-the skin will be clear and transparent-the eye bright-the step elastic-and there will be felt that propensity to muscular motion, which is the great character of youth. In this state, the pugilist may safely venture to enter the ring, against equal strength and talents, which has not been so treated; and he will assuredly come off victor. At the last great match between Molyneux, the black, and Cribb, who had been trained by captain Barclay, of Ury, Molyneux saw at once, when Cribb mounted the stage, that he himself was destined to be beaten, owing entirely to the difference of constitution, produced by difference of training. Such are my own notions, founded upon recollection of what I have heard and read, and observed, of the practices of training. In regard to horses, I have no book to refer to; but the principles are obvious. In February, 1813, was published an account of the performances of celebrated pedestrians, during the last and present century, with a full narrative of captain Barclay's public and private matches, and an essay on training, by the author of the History of Aberdeen. (Walter Thom.) The following account of captain Barclay's method of training, is taken from that work, and the author proposes it as a foundation of a system of training to be introduced into the army. It is an exemplification of the principles above laid down. The pedestrian, who may be supposed in tolerable condition, enters upon his training with a regular course of physic, which consists of three doses. Glauber's salts are generally preferred; and from one ounce and a half to two ounces are taken each time, with an interval of four day's between. After having gone through the course of physic, he commences his regular exercise, which is gradually increased as he proceeds in his training. When the object in view is the accomplishment of a pedestrian match, his regular exercise may be from twenty to twenty-four miles a day. He must rise at five in the morning,* run half a mile, at the top of his speed, up hill, and then walk six miles at a moderate pace, coming in about seven to breakfast; which should consist of beef-stakes, or mutton-chops, underdone, with stale bread and old beer. After breakfast, he must again walk six miles at a moderate *This should be regulated by the time of the year, and the situation of the place he lives in. It is never good to rise before the sun. Six o'clock is a better hour as a general rule, especially in England and in Scotland, which is still more damp. +All old beer is hard; that is, acid: and of course apt to produce indigestion. Beer and ale, at any rate, are bad drinks; they are narcotic, producing disinclination to exertion. The true rule is, to exhaust the excitability by exercise alone. pace, and at twelve lie down in bed, without his clothes, for half an hour. On getting up, he must walk four miles, and return by four to dinner, which should also be beef-stakes, or mutton-chops, with bread and beer, as at breakfast. Immediately after dinner, he must resume his exercise, by running half a mile, at the top of his speed; and walking six miles at a moderate pace. He takes no more exercise for that day, but retires to bed about eight, and next morning proceeds in the same manner. After having gone on in this regular course for three or four weeks, the pedestrian must take a four mile SWEAT: which is produced by running four miles in flannel, at the top of his speed. Immediately on returning, a hot liquor is prescribed, in order to promote perspiration, of which he must take an English pint. It is termed the sweating liquor, and is composed of the following ingredients, viz. one ounce of caraway seed, half an ounce of coriander seed, one ounce of liquorice root, and half an ounce of sugar candy, mixed with two bottles of cider, and boiled down to one half: he is then put to bed in his flannels, and being covered with six or eight pairs of blankets, and a feather bed; must remain in this state from twenty to twenty-five minutes, when he is taken out and rubbed perfectly dry. Being then well wrapped in his great coat, he walks out gently for two miles, and returns to breakfast, which, on such occasions, should consist of a roasted fowl. He afterwards proceeds with his usual exercise. These sweats are continued weekly, till within a few days of the performance of the match;¶ or, in other words, he must undergo three or four of these operations. If the stomach of the pedestrian be foul, an emetic or two must be given about a week before the conclusion of the training, and he is now supposed to be in the highest condition. Besides his usual and regular exercise, a person under training ought to employ himself, in the intervals, in every kind of exertion which tends to activity, such as cricket, bowls, throwing quoits, * From seven o'clock to four (nine hours) is far too long an interval of fasting. Fasting should not be continued with exercise beyond seven hours: by that time, in a healthy man, the digestive organs require a new supply. As a general rule, no food should be taken but at intervals of six or seven hours. This is obviously against Nature, whose rule is, rest after repletion. Exercise, immediately after a hearty meal, not only impedes digestion, but injures the play of the lungs and diaphragm. The hard running, should take place, neither at the beginning or end of the exercise, but should be preceded and followed by walking. In lieu of this unscientific mixture, well calculated indeed to sicken the stomach, let the person under discipline take a quart of thin wine whey, with half a grain of emetic tartar in it. No mere rubbing will take the grease off the skin. Brushes and soap are necessary before rubbing. ¶ These sweats put the exhalants so often to the top of their speed, that they ought to be discontinued at least a week before the match, unless manifets increase of weight calls for them. The person in training should be weighed twice a week at least. &c.,* that during the whole of each day, both body and mind may be constantly occupied. The diet, or regimen, is the next point. As the intention of the trainer is to preserve the strength of the pedestrian, he must take care to keep him in good condition, by nourishing food. Animal diet alone is prescribed, and beef and mutton are preferred. The lean of fat beef cooked in stakes, with very little salt, is the best, and it should be rather underdone than otherwise. Mutton being reckoned easy of digestion,‡ may be 'occasionally given, to vary the diet and gratify the taste. The legs of fowls are highly esteemed. It is preferable to have the meat boiled; as much of its nutritive qualities are lost by roasting¶ and broiling. Biscuit and stale bread, are the only preparations of vegetable matter, which are permitted to be given; and every thing inducing flatulence, must be carefully avoided.** Veal and lamb are never allowed; nor pork, which operates as a laxative on some people; and all fat or greasy substances are prohibited,ft as they induce bile, and consequently injure the stomach. But it has been proved by experience, that the lean of meat contains more nourishment than the fat;‡‡ and in every case the most substantial food is preferable to every other kind. Vegetables, such as turnips, carrots,§§ and potatoes, are never given, as they are watery, and of difficult digestion. On the same principle fish must be avoided; and, besides, they are not sufficiently nutritious. Neither butter or cheese is allowed: the one being very indigestible, the other apt to turn rancid*** on the stomach. Eggs are also forbidden, excepting the yolks * A pugilist should exercise his arms, at throwing quoits, and in a blacksmith's shop. Cricket is liable to too many accidents. A pedestrian should exercise his legs alone. + Salt greatly assists digestion. It is not therefore nutritive. least nutritive, so far as we know. with impunity. Venison, the meat easiest of digestion, is the Quin's recommendation to his friend was, 'the thigh of every fowl.' In roasting, meat loses 25 per cent.; in boiling; the albumen is skimmed off, and much of the gelatin is lost in the liquor. But broiling is exactly the same as roasting. By boiling, meat loses about 32 per cent. **Hence, beer of all kinds should be avoided. + Fat and greasy substances, are two different things; fat, when cooked, may be eaten with impunity; but what a cook would technically call greasy, contains usually sebacic acid developed by the fire, and is certainly unwholesome. The direct contrary is proved by experience. Judge Cooper's remarks on this subject in the Emporium, are conclusive, so far as the appeal to experience extends. Carrots, are a well known remedy for broken winded horses, and broken winded (asthmatic) men. As to potatoes, ask an Irishman if a mealy potatoe is difficult of digestion. ¶¶ Fish is very nutritious: they contain a much larger portion of gelatin than flesh. They might be admitted with meat, once a week, with good effect. *** Fresh butter, in moderate quantities, never turns rancid: cheese sometimes does. taken raw in the morning* and it must be remarked, that salt, spiceries, and all kind of seasoning, with the exception of vinegar, are prohibited.† With respect to liquors, they must be always taken cold: and home-brewed beer, old, but not bottled, is the best. A little red wine, however, may be given to those who are not fond of malt liquor: but never more than half a pint after dinner. Too much liquor swells the abdomen, and of course injures the breath. The quantity of beer, therefore, should not exceed three pints during the whole day; and it must be taken with breakfast and dinner, no supper being allowed. Water is never given alone; and ardent spirits are strictly prohibited, however diluted. It is an established rule to avoid liquids as much as possible: and no more liquor of any kind is allowed to be taken, than what is merely requisite to quench the thirst. Milk is never allowed, as it curdles on the stomach. Soups are not used: nor is any liquid taken warm, but gruel or broth, to promote the operation of the physic, and the sweating liquor mentioned before. The broth must be cooled, in order to take off the fat, and it may be again warmed; or beef tea may be used in the same manner, with little or no salt. In the days between the purges, the pedestrian must be fed as usual; strictly adhering to the nourishing diet by which he is invigorated. If you approve of this dissertation, I propose to continue it, with application to some of the common forms of disease; and to add the arguments by which the more sensible amateurs of pugilism in England defend a practice, which to us seems so brutish and degrading. C. ART. VI.-Modern Greece. A Poem. 8vo. London, Murray, 1817. [From the Edinburgh Magazine.] IN N our reviews of poetical productions, the better efforts of genius hold out to us a task at once more useful and delightful than those of inferior merit. In the former the beauties predominate, and expose while they excuse the blemishes. But the public taste would receive no benefit from a detail of mediocrity, relieved only by the censure of faults uncompensated by excellencies. * Eggs cooked soft, are certainly unobjectionable. The albumen is a necessary part of the animal muscle. With so much animal food, a small quantity of vinegar may be admitted; but salt seems absolutely necessary, from custom; and indeed all animals seem the better for it. Home-brewed beer, when old, is generally acid; and therefore liable to disagree with thestomach. All bottled beer is unwholesomely acid: any one can try this with a piece of litmus paper. ¶ Red wine is always acid. Rich old madeira, or good sherry wine, which is better, are the wines that ought to be used. Four glasses ought to be the utmost li mit. We have great pleasure in calling the attention of our readers to the beautiful poem before us, which we believe to be the work of the same lady who last year put her name to the second edition of another poem on a kindred subject, "The Restoration of the Works of art to Italy," namely, Mrs. Hemans of North Wales. That the author's fame has not altogether kept pace with her merit, we are inclined to think is a reproach to the public. Poetry is at present experiencing the fickleness of fashion, and may be said to have had its day. Very recently, the reading public, as the phrase is, was immersed in poetry, but seems to have had enough; and excepting always that portion of it who are found to relish genuine poetry on its own intrinsic account, and will never tire of the exquisite enjoyment which it affords, the said public seldom read poetry at all. It was very natural for poets in their finer sympathies, to be lured into the mistake that, like themselves, "the million" loved "music, image, sentiment, and thought," with a love "never to die." They did not observe that the attachment was greatly too sudden to give reasonable hopes of constancy. For more than two hundred years the best poetry in Europe was to be found in our own country; yet a very small portion of the educated classes seems ever to have taken any warm interest in these treasures. How few have read Chaucer or Spencer, or studied Shakspeare, except in the theatre. Upon what multitudes has Milton thrown away his lofty strain,-Dryden his fire,-Pope his exquisite polish,-Thomson his music and grace,-and his exquisite and impassioned descriptions of nature. Poetical excellence addresses itself to higher tastes and finer sensibilities than are bestowed on the bulk of mankind; and to all who are not so endowed, it is a very tiresome sort of pastime. An era however approached. "The Lay" converted thousands, and "Marmion" tens of thousands, and the whole world read poetry. Had Mr. Scott given out the same quantity of poetical thoughts and images, in poems constructed like "The Task," or "The Pleasures of Hope," his readers would not have numbered one for a hundred; yet the accessary ninety-nine, attracted by the seductive form in which he has actually appeared, firmly believe that they have all been regularly imbued with a taste for genuine poetry. The whole secret is, that Mr. Scott gave to the world a series of brilliant romances, and turned into this new-made channel all who ever in their lives read and relished fictitious compositions. All the poets, good and bad, forthwith wrote metrical.romances-from the time of Gertrude of Wyoming to that of Lalla Rookh; and to the exhibition of human passion and action in wellconceived plots and catastrophes, more than to any change in their mere poetry, is to be imputed that powerful stimulus which seve-" ral of the masters of the present day have succeeded in applying to the formerly-rather-languid feelings of the public. There needs not the fine imagery, the exquisite metaphors, the delightful allu |