HO RIDING RECOLLECTIONS. 



rapidity, but from its steadiness he derives moral en- 

 couragement rather than physical support, and on those 

 rare occasions when his own is insufficient, he seems to 

 borrow daring and resolution from his rider. 



If the man's heart is in the right place, his horse will 

 seldom fail him ; and were we asked to name the one 

 essential without which it is impossible to attain 

 thorough proficiency in the saddle, we should not 

 hesitate to say nerve. 



Nerve, I repeat, in contradistinction to pluck. The 

 latter takes us into a difficulty, the former brings us out 

 of it. Both are comprised in the noble quality we call 

 emphatically valour, but while the one is a brilliant and 

 imposing costume, so is the other an honest wear-and- 

 tear fabric, equally fit for all weathers, fine and foul. 



" You shiver, Colonel you are afraid," said an insub- 

 ordinate Major, who ought to have been put under 

 arrest then and there, to his commanding officer on the 

 field of Prestonpans. " I am afraid, sir," answered the 

 Colonel ; " and if you were as much afraid as I am, you 

 would fun away ! " 



I have often thought this improbable anecdote exem- 

 plifies very clearly that most meritorious of all courage 

 which asserts the dominion of our will over our senses. 

 The Colonel's answer proves he was full of valour. He 



