234 RIDING RECOLLECTIONS. 



enthusiast as poor "Sam Reynell," who found Meath 

 without a gorse-covert, and drew between thirty and 

 forty " sure finds " in it before he died ! 



Independently of duty, which ought to be our first 

 consideration, there is also great convenience in hunting 

 from home. We require no large stud, can choose our 

 meets, and, above all, are indifferent to weather. A 

 horse comes out so many times in a season ; if we don't 

 hunt to-day we shall next week. Compare this equable 

 frame of mind with the irritation and impatience of a 

 man who has ten hunters standing at the sign of " The 

 Hand-in-Pocket," while he inhabits the front parlour, 

 without his books, deprived of his usual society and 

 occupations, the barometer at set fair, and the atmo- 

 sphere affording every indication of a six-weeks' frost ! 



Let us see in what the charm consists that impels 

 people to encounter bad food, bad wine, bad lodgings, 

 and above all, protracted boredom, for a campaign in 

 those historical hunting-grounds, that have always 

 seemed to constitute the rosiest illusion of a sports- 

 man's dream. 



