FOX HUNTING. 8l 



head had not some of the fearless British blood 

 that backed it — and which the fox-hunting gentry 

 here inherit — been tinctured with the strength to 

 face bodily peril and defy ordinary danger in the 

 scarlet coats of the men who rode cross country 

 to the hounds ever since the days of William 

 Rufus." 



CHAPTER XIII. 



HUNT BREAKFASTS. 



The first hunt breakfast that was given at a 

 private house was given at the house of J. Howard 

 Lewis, in Nether Providence, on March 5th, 1877; 

 but farmers' breakfasts were not unusual at the 

 Rose Tree club house with the eating served in 

 "Benny's" dining room, for they originated in the 

 early days of the organized club and were well 

 attended. 



A description of the breakfast at Mr. Lewis's, 

 and of the hunt that followed was published in The 

 Evening Telegraph, Philadelphia, of March 22d, 

 1877, and is as follows : 



"how a FAVORITE SPORT IS CARRIED ON 

 IN DELAWARE COUNTY. 



"The extent to which fox hunting is carried 

 on near Philadelphia may be shown from the fact 

 that at a hunt that started from the Rose Tree on 



