s improvement in the motion of legs and feet into the
army, might therefore be attended with disastrous consequences.

This excellent art, however, will probably supersede equestrian
performances on the turf. The horse will no longer be tortured for the
amusement of man; but fellow bipeds, equipped _in querpo_, will start
for the prize, and, with the fleetness of a North-American Indian, bound
along the lists, amid the acclamations and cheers of admiring
multitudes. The competition between man and man in the modern foot-race
is certainly fair; but, for the better regulation of the movements of
public runners, it might be expedient that an amateur, mounted on an
ass, should keep pace with the performers, and, by the judicious
application of a whip, prevent any of the tricks belonging to the turf,
such as crossing and jostling, that gamesters might have a fair chance
for their money. As for those gymnastic heroes, who, like captain
Barclay, merely run against old Time, they are, indeed, unentitled to
the fame they _pant_ for. It may be thought ungenerous to oppose
youthful agility to the hobbling pace of the old gentleman, yet, as he
is well known to be sound in wind, he probably will run the briskest of
them down at last.

The art of running only requires the sanction of some man of quality, to
establish it at the head of all our modern amusements. There is a
certain sameness in other divertisements, which must become irksome to
the spectator. But in the noble exhibitions of the foot-race there will
be no danger of satiety, for the art of running may be diversified by
such innumerable modifications, that it will appear "ever charming, ever
new." For instance, let the competitors for fame in the celerity of
motion always be selected according to the strictest laws of decorum,
consequently a lord and a lady cannot, without great impropriety, start
against each other.

But if persons of rank and respectability choose to take an airing on
their own legs, instead of an equestrian exhibition, for the _amusement_
of the public, there is no necessity that they should be of equal size
and weight. Every individual must be the best judge of his own muscular
powers; and if the duke of Lumber should think proper to challenge my
lord Lath, to run four times round the canal in St. James's Park, for
10,000l. the contrast in their figure would only render the diversion
more entertaining to the admiring spectators.

As the ladies have