THE LIFE OF A SrORTSMAN 



practical inioniuition he brings witli him i'rom thence, the 

 better, for it is not my wish that he should attain a relish for 

 the turf ; but, as lie is Ijont on being a fox-hunter, I am glad 

 you have exliibited to him, in the person of your Melton 

 friends, some of the best specimens of that class of men. I 

 knew Mountford's father well, and there was no better man ; 

 and I hear an excellent account of Lord Edmonston, from an old 

 friend of his mother, who visited me lately. Of Raymond I know 

 nothing but from what I see of him in the newspapers, as the 

 owner of a good stud of race-horses, and a successful gentleman 

 jockey at Bibury and other places. His being an acquaintance 

 of yours, however, is a guarantee for everything that is correct ; 

 for there must be something in a man beyond being a mere 

 sportsman, to give him access to your table. These are the sort 

 of men, then, that I wish Frank to be acquainted with ; and as 

 I hear very good accounts of him, it is not improbable that 

 he may, one of these days, know a little more of them, by 

 accepting Somerby's invitation to spend a month at Melton 

 Mowbray, and see " the cream of the thing " with foxhounds, 

 under the direction of the famous Meynell, which, I flatter 

 myself, he has seen with harehounds, under the management 

 of your humble servant. You must be aware that the 

 expenses of a trip of this sort would be considerable, and, 

 under general circumstances, somewhat unjustiflable, as 

 regards a younger brother ; but you must also be aware that, 

 beyond the expenses of his education, and the purchase of a 

 few books, Andrew costs me nothing. His pony is all that 

 he requires ; and his sister tells me he must be saving 

 money out of his annual allowance. Now, as our grandfather 

 and father were both sportsmen, and I have myself some 

 pretensions to the appellation, I should wish Frank to become 

 one, and be somewhat conspicuous as such, for which I 

 think he is qualifled. As for his passion for driving coaches, 

 that will most likely wear away ; he imbibed it from Inkleton, 

 who is an excellent person withal, and certainly has done 

 much good in his neighbourhood, in liberalising — at all events, 

 humanising — a set of men, I mean coachmen and guards, 

 by coming so much into collision with them on their own 

 ground. It seems the " passion for the ribbons," as it is 

 called, is very mucli gaining ground ; that it is encouraged 

 by the Prince ; that his friend Sir John Lade has, at this 



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