inued to be the President of the Society for
Ameliorating the Condition of Prisoners, but he steadily refused to
ameliorate a single prisoner convicted of burglary, and while he was
always a lunatic in regard to other criminals, he openly maintained that
a burglar was the worst of men, and that kindness was utterly thrown
away upon him. He never had any more burglars in his house, though the
dog now and then lunched off warm leg when some stranger to that part of
the country ventured into the Hoskins's premises at night. Hoskins was
very fond of the animal, which was quite right, but his practice of
leaving a bottle of whiskey, with an ounce of strychnine in it, on the
dining-room table every night, in case a burglar should succeed in
getting into the house, was, in my opinion, going a little too far.
Antimonial wine would have been much more humane and sufficiently
effective. But there is no man who is more severe than a philanthropist
who has been turned sour."

Experiences of a 'Varsity Oar.

BY AN "OLD BLUE."

(F. C. DRAKE.)

ILLUSTRATIONS BY ERNEST PRATER.

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Rowing in the University Boat Race is not a thing to be undertaken
lightly. To begin with, it involves great muscular exertion; but this is
not unpleasant, and, as I shall presently show, is not dangerous.
Further, it ties the aspirant to his oar for at least ten weeks, which
is perhaps its greatest disadvantage; and it involves intense
application and a pretty good temper under remarks from the "coach" that
are sometimes almost more than caustic. But against these drawbacks are
to be set the pleasure of gratified ambition, the healthy life, and,
best of all, the sensation of the flight of the boat driven by eight
men, of whom none are really bad oarsmen, and some are uncommonly good.
Putting these side by side, no one need wonder that an old Blue should
look on the time he spent at Putney as one of the best in his life.

I will pass over the preliminary work at the University, for it contains
nothing novel or interesting, and is mainly consumed in settling the
crew who are finally to row, and in getting the men "hard" by long,
steady work, to get rid of fat and replace it by muscle. The real
interest begins when the crew has been settled, and the men have had
their colours given them, and are looking forward shortly to leaving the
home waters. By this time they are fairly "fit," and, as they have in
all cases of doubt had the v