•166 THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER 



after liim, put it in his pocket, and bade the fiehl 

 good-bje. On another occasion, when in the same 

 enviable situation — i.e. having the lead — he leaped 

 into a deep pit brimful of water. As he was in the 

 act of swimming out of it, he observed a man on 

 foot warning those who were following him of their 

 danger. " Hold your tongue ! " roared his lordship ; 

 " we shall have it full in a minute." But did Lord 

 Forester never press upon hounds ? Now and then, 

 I have reason to believe, which called forth the 

 following rebuke of Mr. Meynell : '*' We had a pretty 

 find to-day," said he ; " first came the fox, then 

 Cecil Forester, then my hounds.^' .... His splendid 

 hunter, Bernardo, I cannot forget, nor his leaping 

 the immense space of ten yards and some inches 

 with him over a brook, which space was measured 

 by some of the party visiting at Belvoir Castle at 

 the time.' 



The sporting parson is a character not so often 

 met in the hunting-field now as in days gone by. 

 The hunting clergyman came in for a large share of 

 abuse which, in very many cases, he did not deserve. 

 The rector of a small country village can easil}- 

 perform all the duties required of him by either law 

 or gospel, and yet find time for healthful recreation 

 in the shape of two or three hours' gallop across 

 country — a thing very good for both parson and 

 horse. Of course a clergyman ought not to neglect 

 his duties for the hunt, nor, for the matter of that, 



