The Merry Past 



world that the spirit of invention coupled with 

 fearless elan still lives. One man such as this is 

 worth all the faddists, pseudo-philanthropists, and 

 mealy-mouthed politicians in the world : would that 

 they could all be packed in some huge aeroplane, con- 

 trived to deposit its passengers in a congenial sphere 

 where they could set to work reforming one another 

 to their hearts' content ! 



Originality even of an eccentric kind is a symptom 

 of vitality, whilst a general undeviating adherence to 

 convention shows that the life blood of a nation 

 courses none too quickly through its veins. England 

 in former days abounded in original characters. 

 Besides those whose names are well known, there 

 were numberless individuals in the British Isles who 

 struck out a line for themselves. 



Many of the squires of the eighteenth century 

 were unconventional in the extreme, brimming over 

 with vitality, and ready for mad escapades which seem 

 almost inconceivable to-day. The following is a 

 characteristic example of this : 



A number of sportsmen were sitting after dinner 

 in a country inn, nearly fifty miles distant from the 

 metropolis, where they had been staying some days 

 for the purpose of hunting with a favourite pack 

 in the neighbourhood. The conversation chanced to 

 turn upon which of the party would arrive first in 

 London, when a certain squire, on whom the wine had 

 made less impression than on the rest, boldly offered to 

 back himself for ;^50 against any present. Only after 

 this bet was made and increased to a considerable sum 



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