Still Froze7i Out. 217 



a lock-out to begin cub hunting, which, with a 

 " field " of five hundred, he thinks will be a difficult 

 task. It is not only a bad time time for the sports- 

 man, but also for the large dealers, whose stables 

 are filled with hunters ; literally eating themselves 

 up, not simply eating their heads off, as the saying 

 goes. One of our large men in the trade told me 

 his expenses per week amounted to £180, and that 

 he had not so much as shown a horse for a fort- 

 night ; a lively state of things certainly % For my 

 part, I think a deputation of foxhunters should wait 

 upon the clerk of the weather, handing in an invoca- 

 tion in the words of Thomson, — 



" Come, gentle Spring, ethereal mildness come ; 

 And from the bosom of yon dropping cloud, 

 While music wakes around, veiled in a shower 

 Of shadowing roses, on our plains descend." 



I don't know or care much about roses at present. 

 I think they may be dispensed with for a while, but 

 I am all for a little " ethereal mildness," but desire 

 beyond everything a " dropping cloud," that shall 

 wash away the snow, dissolve the ice, and let us all 

 go a-hunting once more. In the meantime, it is 

 necessary to find some amusement ; and, having 

 heard Mr. Toynbee's establishment very highly 

 spoken of, I resolved to journey to East Acton to see 

 the stud farm, and have a look at the hunters, as the 

 next best thing to riding to them. 



Arriving at the village, I found signs of the spe- 

 culative builders on all sides, and this once rural 

 district will, I fear, speedily form a portion of the 

 Metropolis. In the meantime, Mr. Toynbee has 

 secured a most charming residence, a splendid range 



P 



