LIFE OF MYTTON. 109 



ten or twelve years back, was riding amongst the gen- 

 tlemen jockeys wider twelve stone ? The question is 

 best answered by the fact of his having been, by the 

 aid of excess in good living, upwards of fifteen, with 

 his saddle, for some years past ; and I think Sir Bel- 

 lingham Graham will confirm the truth of my assertion, 

 that he was nothing short of that weight, on his 

 capital Hit-or-Miss mare, when he so distinguished 

 himself in that famous run with his, Sir Bellingham's, 

 hounds, of an hour and forty minutes, from Babins- 

 wood, in Shropshire. But it has not been in this 

 run, nor in that run, in one country or in another 

 country, that Mytton has made himself signal ; and 

 yet I might hazard an imputation on my veracity 

 were I to recount ail the extraordinary deeds of this 

 most extraordinary man, in various situations with 

 hounds. Indeed, adding the hazards for his neck 

 that he has encountered in the field to those to which 

 he has subjected himself elsewhere, the most extra- 

 ordinary thing after all is, that he is at this moment 

 in existence. However, confining my remarks to his 

 riding, I am bound to pronounce him one of the most 

 daring horsemen that ever came under my eje ; and I 

 must likewise add that, all things considered, he has 

 had fewer falls, and tired fewer horses in chase, than 



