298 "JOVIAL HUNTSMEN": 



sented, and his carouses round the punch bowl, his 

 quaffing of the nut-brown ale brought to him at the 

 village inn door by the rosy, buxom Hebe with the 

 trim ankles, and his salute on parting with the fair 

 cupbearer, all have been given to us both " plain and 

 in colours" over and over again, and our purveyors 

 never seem to tire of supplying the same dishes. 



Well, they know what they are about, I presume, 

 and find ready sale for their wares ; but I wonder if 

 the fox-hunter of long ago was really a cheerier 

 mortal than the rest of mankind — as cheery, in fact, 

 as these pictures seem to suggest ? He was a bit of 

 a roisterer, we all know — our great-grandfathers 

 mostly were — whether they hunted fox or hare, or 

 stayed at home ; but fox-hunting seems always to 

 have fostered good-fellowship and sociability, though 

 in the two-bottle days the good-fellowship was 

 doubtless a bit too exuberant. I maintain, however, 

 that there is in the pleasures of the chase something 

 that does call forth geniality and dispels gloom, that 

 leaves recollections which one feels anxious to impart 

 to others, and a desire also to compare notes and 

 hear the opinions and adventures of our friends. 



In these less expansive days it is considered correct 

 to conceal to a certain extent one's exaltation, and 

 we smile at the doings of our ancestors, whose hearty 

 custom it was to gather together as many comrades 

 as they could at dinner after a day's hunting ; toast 

 and song went round, and they heard how " a 

 southerly wind and a cloudy sky proclaimed a 

 hunting morn," and a good deal about Aurora, and 

 bright Phoebus, and chaste Diana. Such was their 



