478 1fc(n05 of tbe 1Rofc, "Rifle, an& (Bun 



From that time forward Berkeley lived a retired life, 

 devoted to sport and the study of Nature, with occa- 

 sional excursions into authorship. His " Recollections " 

 appeared in the late sixties, and created some stir. 

 They are full of anecdote, gossip, and scandal, and 

 therefore eminently entertaining to the bulk of society 

 readers. His last work was " Fact against Fiction," 

 a dreary book in which he airs his peculiar views 

 ad nauseam. 



He was troubled with no mock modesty, and those 

 who wish to know what his personal appearance was 

 may gather all they want from the following portrait 

 drawn by himself: 



" And now, under no fear of being deemed egotistic, 

 as some readers may wish to know the sort of ap- 

 pearance the author still wears, and his inclination 

 and capabilities, I will describe myself. My height 

 in my shoes, is six feet two ; without my shoes, in the 

 measurement of the Coldstream Guards, it was six feet 

 one and a quarter. For seven-and-twenty years I have 

 never varied in weight more than eight or nine pounds ; 

 my average weight being thirteen stone : and, so to 

 speak, even now as age advances, I have not an ounce 

 of superfluous flesh about me. Age does advance, 

 though : I see it in the " crows-feet " on my face ; it is 

 evident by the snows that are falling among my hair ; 

 and, most of all, I feel it in not being able to quit the 

 ground as I used to do, when desirous of jumping over 

 an obstacle. Otherwise I am as much pleased with 

 hunting a mouse or rat, fishing for a gudgeon or perch, 

 when no other pastime is to be had, as I used to be 



