The distance at which the archer stands from his mark depends upon circumstances; but the ordinary distance for ladies is a hundred yards. A flat stone is often let into the ground to show where the archer is to stand, and then the target is moved to the distance that may be agreed upon. The bow is held in the left hand, and the string is pulled by the right. Arrows were formerly reckoned by the sheaf, which consisted of twenty-four arrows, which were carried in a quiver or arrow-case on the back; but arrows for immediate use were always worn in the girdle. When a portion of the English soldiers were archers, every full-grown man was forbidden by statute to shoot at a butt which was nearer to him than two hundred and twenty yards; and the archers drew their bowstrings to the ear instead of to the breast, as is the custom at the present time. Newington Butts, and several other places round London, bear witness by their names to their having been formerly places for the citizens to exercise their skill in archery; but even as late as the reign of Elizabeth no person was allowed to shoot with a yew bow, under the age of seventeen, unless he was the son of a gentleman. _Sketching_ in the open air is a very delightful country amusement, particularly when it can be so managed as to be done with very little apparatus. To go out with a table and chair and every thing prepared is, however, enough to damp the courage of an amateur artist; and nearly all the pleasure of sketching from nature depends upon being able to gratify the inspiration of the moment, at the very moment when the desire to make a sketch is felt. There are happy moments in which the talents appear to have more brilliancy than at other times, and, as these do not depend upon the will of the poet or the artist, they must be taken advantage of when they arise, or they are lost.