GENTLEMAN OF THE OLDEN TIME. 81 



excess of travellers) over those who formerly 

 journeyed by road we know not for certain, 

 but we are disposed to think there are 

 not. 



Therefore, to sum up, if the question was 

 " Road versus Rail," taking all the pros and cons 

 into consideration, we should give the verdict for 

 the defendant. 



The modern lover of field sports is uo longer 

 a drunken, rollicking, two or four-bottle man ; 

 he prefers the society of the ladies in the 

 drawing-room to that of the half-inebriated 

 gentlemen in the dining-room ; he dresses in a 

 becoming manner, seldom swears, and, as far as 

 his means go, keeps open house. What a con- 

 trast is this to the sportsman of bygone da3^s ! 

 Perhaps, however, the following is the most 

 curious picture of the sporting life and rude 

 habits of the English country gentleman of the 

 olden time, extant. 



" In the year 1638 lived Mr. Hastings, second 

 son of an Earl of Huntingdon. He was, per- 

 ad venture, an original in our age, or rather the 

 copy of our ancient nobility in hunting, not in 

 warlike times. He was low, very strong, and 

 very active, of a reddish flaxen hair. His 

 clothes, always green cloth, and never all worth 



G 



