HUNTING loi 



or not, Thackeray styled Georqc IV. the " First 

 Gentleman of Europe " ; and H.R.H. believed it to 

 be true. In olden days, unless a man of the aristo- 

 cracy displayed an aptitude for field sports and 

 lived freely and well — unless he could take his 

 share of wine and displayed a pretty taste for the 

 fair sex — he hardly qualified for the term under 

 discussion : and, no doubt, a man who took his 

 liquor freely put himself to a severe test. The old 

 saying, ''In vino Veritas" or, translated into English, 

 "Drunk but still a gentleman," contains much 

 truth. When a man is in drink he usually shows 

 the worst or the best of his character and disposi- 

 tion. Many a man has lost his qualification to 

 be called a gentleman by one night's debauch. 

 The reason is, of course, when he has shaken his 

 mental equilibrium he cannot dissemble, and the 

 truth is out. Alcohol has very different effects on 

 different subjects ; some become cheery and ex- 

 hilarated, others morose and quarrelsome. The 

 gambler becomes reckless, the amorous individual 

 offensive, but, be he a chimneysweep or a lord, the 

 o^entleman will never be offensive. Then the Xo^nc 

 is : to find out whether a man is a gentleman or 

 the reverse — make him drunk. In olden times no 

 man was a gentleman who had not the spirit of 

 adventure in him, whether in sport, war or love. 

 There is no race on earth that does not pay homage 



