TO THE EDITORS OF THE HAILEYBURY OBSERVER.

Est genus unum

Stultitiæ, nihilum metuenda timentis.

Horace, Lib. II. Sat. 3, line 58.

GENTLEMEN EDITORS,-In a letter, signed "Philalethes," which appeared in your last Paper, the writer commences by a most judicious observation. He remarks that it would be unworthy of you to edit a journal "restricted to the little concerns of the College ;" and he recommends that you should "draw the attention of your readers to the grand principles of the science of government, and to the qualities of head and heart which ought to belong to public servants." To this sentiment all, doubtless, must cordially agree; and, farther, all must admire the liberality with which the writer deprecates" the hot, indiscriminate defence of any political party or person."

But, then, the ingenious writer of the article in question, proceeds to illustrate "the principles of the science of government, and the qualities of public servants," by adducing as examples, the present Ministry of this country. Without entering into the question, how far our rulers are skilled in governing, and models among statesmen, I beg leave to put this to your serious consideration,-Whether you act rightly in permitting in your Paper the discussion of the politics of the day?

In the first place.-What is the attraction in discussing politics, which should make it a favorite subject? If any among the Students do feel so intense a desire to debate of "Men and Measures," their anxiety must arise from the peculiarly interesting, or rather exciting, nature of political controversies ;-which circumstance alone creates a difference, in the present case, between politics and the discussion of any other subject. I say this alone, because it would be absurd to assert that the Haileybury Observer can make a medium for conveying political news. All that it can do, in this department, is to recapitulate the substance of the public prints, accompanied by the crude ideas of the inexperienced minds of embryo politicians; or it can raise subjects for violent and heated discussions, which, (though, doubtless, the good taste, and discretionary power of the Editors will prevent abuse or scurrility) will be influenced by youthful prejudices, and will certainly cause pain, and perhaps, awake the evil passions, in the minds of the individuals themselves.

Originality, Gentlemen Editors, is your object. Why, then, insist upon the admission of compositions on that subject, in which originality cannot be expected from persons of the ages of your contributors? Are there not open to their emulous research the rich fields of literature, history, biography, romance, poetry, satire, and the indulgence of the comic vein, in each and all of which youth may display originality and genius ?-Why not, then, contentedly resign the dangerous, and, to the youthful mind, the barren, desert of politics?-Wherefore, when the gates of treasure chambers are thrown open to invite you to their safe possession and enjoyment, insist on entering the barred door, within whose portals lies nothing to repay your trouble, and whose violation, you have been warned, will cause the complete failure of your enterprise? Did not a person, whose opinion all of you must give in to, assert his conviction that the first letter on the subject of politics, which appeared in your Paper, was the most likely possible to provoke "a virulent and acrimonious answer?" and farther, that any violent political discussions, must infallibly call for the interference of the College authorities, to put a stop to a Paper, managed in a manner so ill-judged as to permit their admission?

Have you not heard the decision of those who will be judges in this matter, and will you wilfully persist in admitting what they have distinctly condemned? With what view do you invoke judgment on your own heads, despite warning given, and conviction forced upon you? Believe me, I give utterance to the sentiments of many, when I assert, that the expectation of the Students, on the establishment of the Haileybury Observer, was, that it would be a medium for conferring pleasure, not exciting strife; that it would shine brightly and steadily for long, not be quenched at its rise by the obstinacy of a few.

Gentlemen, I have only now to crave pardon for trespassing so long on your patience, and to hope that nothing in this letter has been taken amiss by any of you. If you object to the admission of this paper in your pages, the writer will hope you have agreed with him; if not, he begs that it may be inserted.

Zeal in the cause of the Haileybury Observer is (believe me, gentlemen) the sole motive that influences your humble servant, DESINE PERVICAX.

A TALE OF MODERN CHIVALRY,-IN TWO CANTOS. My dear Mr. Editor,

I hope you will read it, or

I ne'er would have given
To my fancy the rein;

Or thus boldly have striven,

In a Walter Scott strain,

Or at least to the future was not wide awake.'

For e'en in this College,

This bower of knowledge,
And deep information,
And civilization,

And wisdom and virtue,

I will boldly assert, you

Never heard of, or read, in the whole of your life,
Of so gallant, and glorious, and brilliant a strife,
As lately took place, in some regular lists,

With spear and with shield, not with clod-hopping fists,
Between two knights well known to fame,

Whom modesty forbids to name,

Who engaged quite à l'outrance,
About, sir, a new trans

Of a passage in Hindï,

And thus made a shindy,

Which put both the combatants quite out of breath,

And caused very nearly a premature death.

They both were exceedingly brave,

And one was excessively fat;

But your pardon I ought, sir, to crave,

For incautiously mentioning that;

But this, sir, at least, let me say,

That one was the boast and pride of A.

The other the joy of B.

That one was for whiskers far renown'd,
Was emerald-studded, and shawl-dressing-gown'd,
A Swell exceedingly.

The other cared little or naught for the Graces,
Was usually quite independent of braces,

And all other tawdry restraint;

And, as some one has truthfully written before,
Over learning was always accustomed to snore,
A beauty, indeed, without paint.

The Knight of the Buck, the first was named
But, being in hall and bower far famed,

He was frequently called LE BEAU:
Enormous circumferential size

Proclaim'd to the world's admiring eyes,
That his rival, who shone in chivalric guise,
Was no other than great LE Gros.
Anthropometamorphosial talent

Converted each youth to a knightly gallant;
Their coats of mail were most skilfully wrought
Of hampers, which once were clandestinely brought,
Full of wine, through the College gate.
Caparison'd donkeys the warriors rode,

And each charger, beneath his pond'rous load,
Seem'd not quite in love with his fate.

Their helms were academic caps,
Which oft had stood some lusty raps;

Their spears had ne'er known rust;
For, prigged from some dark centre room,
Each warrior wields a trusty broom,
Of deal inlaid with dust.

But hark! the Herald's trumpet sounds,
The cortege leaves the College grounds
In very noble state:

But, ere they quit the quiet scene
Of that much-loved quadrangle green,
They halt at Coleman's gate.
The Fat Knight swore he must have here
A stirrup-cup of Coleman's beer:

His friends knew after what he hankered,
And soon produced a foaming tankard.

And now each ardent Student strives
To reach, with all his might and main,
The scene of strife, the listed plain
Which oft has fired a Poet's strain,

The Field of the Court of Fives.

Oh! 'twas a gallant sight to see
The whole of that fair company;
From all the rooms, pell-mell, had poured
The motley academic horde;
The reading men, the rowing set,
The novel readers, all had met :

The light cigar adorns the mouth
Of almost every anxious youth;
The tartan hue profusely flames

From waistcoats, coats, and fye-for-shames.
Conspicuous o'er the multitude,

The Ruffian kept the lists,

Lest the "οι πόλλοι should intrude,
And quiz, with observations rude,
The two antagonists.

O Ruffian!-cause of misery!
Foe to freshmen and to me!

Thou, whose hand on quiet pates
The limpid stream precipitates;
Thou, whose curst cast-iron touch
Drags the poor student from his couch,
And lodges him, spite wrath and wrangle,
Securely in the cold quadrangle ;
Chief of hoax and humbug makers,

Panel sporters, statute breakers!

List, Ruffian, to my imprecation,

Than Solemn Moneo worse, more dread than Rustication!!!

May'st thou, when Chapel bell is down,

At the last minute, miss thy gown:

When to the Hall your steps have stroll'd,
O, may you find the viands cold,

The vegetables gone :

May the Pros' table greet your eyes,
And dainties o'er your vision rise,
And call up suffocating sighs,

That thou hast dinner none.

At Lecture, may some tough Greek play,
Defy your best exertion;

And, still worse yet, may you always get
The hardest piece in Persian.

But hark! the trumpet rends the gale,
And thunders o'er each hill and dale
That's in the College Map.

O'er Peter's heart it shed a fear,
That danger to the lamps was near,

It spoilt all Coleman's home-brew'd beer,
And Duncan's evening nap;

For Sir Buck, in the pride of youthful might,
Encounters the force of the obese Knight.
End of first CANTO.

A DAY'S DEER STALKING.

ON a lovely morning in the beginning of August, when the tops of the mountains were still capped with mist, and the dew lay heavy on the heather, two sportsmen were seen to issue from the door-way of one of those black bothies which everywhere abound in the wild Highland Glens. The sun had not yet risen, and so universal was the stillness, that the faint bark of the shepherd's dog, and the shrill scream of the eagle, could be heard among the distant hills.

"How's the wind this morning, Duncan?" was the first question of one of them to a well-built, athletic looking man, in the dress of a forester. "Couldn't be better, your honour, if you had prayed for it," he replied; "and one of the shepherds has come down to tell me that he has marked two fine stags into the Corry-Dhu. With your honour's leave, I have sent on Angus with the dogs, and we can follow when you have had breakfast." "Very well, Duncan, you must be master of the ceremonies, and now give us half an hour's law, and we are at your service." Ere the time had elapsed, our sportsmen were equipped for the chase, and, under the forester's guidance, took their way up the glen. After following its windings for nearly two miles, they breasted the steep hill which formed its boundary on the right. "What a splendid view," exclaimed Granville, the younger of the two, on nearing the top.

"So that's your tune, already, Master Harry," said his companion, "admiring the prospect as an excuse for being blown; let me tell you you'll require all your wind to-day, or the ground is not what it used to be."

"Faith, your honour says right," replied Duncan, "but I see Angus waving his hand to us from that rock above, and I'll be bound he doesn't do it for nothing." So saying he hastened a head, to communicate with the gilly.

"Make haste, gentlemen, make haste," he exclaimed, as, almost breathless with anxiety, he met them coming leisurely along. "Angus saw the deer on the move, about half an hour ago, and now he has lost sight of them altogether."

They required nothing more to make them double quick it to the ridge of the hill, that commanded a view of the corry; and their glasses were put in immediate requisition.

Long and carefully did Duncan scan every patch of juniper and little dell, in hopes of finding the game, and not a word was uttered as they waited the result of the scrutiny. At length, as they began to despair, his cautiously raised hand warned them of his success. "I've got them," he whispered, "they're laying down a little to the left of that stunted birch, two splendid stags! Oh! Glenvallich, your honour's in luck to day; They're as fat as butter, and one of them has ten tynes."

"Give me the glass, let me have a peep at them," exclaimed Granville." By Jove! what a fine fellow that is by the foot of yon brown stump," burst from his lips when he at length discovered them, "I hope to put a ball through his hide before long." "Well, Duncan, how are we to approach them," said Glenvallich. "Indeed, your honour must just go back the way you came, as far as the bottom of the corry, and then I will engage to take you within a hundred yards of them, by the channel of the burn." 66 Nothing for it, Harry, then but to follow Duncan's directions." Leaving Angus at his post with the dogs, in case the deer should be merely wounded, they struck at a quick pace down the hill side, till they came to a point where they could enter the gully that formed the channel of the little brook, without fear of being seen. Then, indeed, the task was arduous, for sometimes they had to wade through heather up to their waists, and at others, to worm themselves along over spots that were rather exposed. After proceeding in this manner for nearly half an hour, Duncan found by his marks that they were nearing their game. Therefore motioning them to stop, he crawled along for some distance alone. Suddenly they saw him cautiously raise his head, and peer over a hag, behind which he lay crouched; but this was only a momentary suspense, for a waive of his hand brought them instantly to his side. "You're not sixty yards from the largest stag, at this moment," he whispered, "and there's no use in going nearer."

"Come then, Granville," said Glenvallich, "you are to have the first shot, and remember, I fire only if you miss." Duncan was evidently not pleased with the arrangement, but he said nothing. Granville now peeping over, saw the noble brute extended at full length, and only showing signs of life by an occasional shudder, as the flies tormented him. He slowly extended his rifle, but the click of the lock, as he cocked it, made the animal start and raise his head. "Low, Harry! aim low! take him behind the shoulder," whispered his friend. Whether it was that his hand was unsteady from recent exertion, or that he was nervous from excitement, the ball flew harmless. But scarcely had the report roused the deer from his lair, ere the rifle of Glenvallich gave forth its deadly contents; and the deer, making one headlong bound in the air, lay, writhing in the agonies of death.

(To be continued.)

NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Our readers will observe that the present number contains a greater quantity, though not more pages, than our last. Had the number of pages been increased, it was found that a large additional expense would be incurred, and that the facility of transmission by post, and consequently the sale of the Paper, would be greatly diminished.

The Extracts from the Life of a Student' will be continued in our next. 'M.A.' and Bloomsbury' are postponed for further consideration.

The letter of No Humbug' would have been inserted, but that we had previously been favoured with a reply to Philalethes, from another Correspondent.

'A Minor' is acquainted with our reasons for declining his contribution.

On further consideration we are compelled to return the papers of Swipes' and' S.' We believe that all our readers would be shocked by A Martyr's' tirade against his Tutor. We will therefore spare him the severest punishment, which, in our opinion, it would be possible to inflict, and which he well deserves,—the publication of such a specimen of bad taste and bad feeling.

We are much obliged to R.' and A Sentimental Gentleman' for their contributions, which are not however exactly suited to our pages.

We received' F's' translation too late to give it proper attention.

N. B.-All rejected articles may be had on application at the Porter's Lodge.

PUBLISHED BY ST. AUSTIN & SON, HERTFORD, AND BY J. MADDEN & Co. LEADENHALL STREET, LONDON.

ST. AUSTIN AND SON, PRINTERS, HERTFORD.