LIFE OF MYTTON 169 



anecdote will show. Imasrinino- himself to be a good 

 judge of horse-flesh, he invariably brought his new 

 purchases to the Squire of High Leigh, partly for his 

 approbation, and partly in proof of his own skill in 

 the selection of them. On one occasion the nasf was 

 ordered into the stable, and his Reverence also well 

 taken care of for the night, the next being a hunt- 

 ing morning. " Now, Doctor," said the Squire, as 

 soon as breakfast was over, " we will go into the 

 stables and see this famous new horse of yours, of 

 which you have talked to me so much." But he was 

 not to be found. The parson declared he himself put 

 him in a particular stall ; and tJiere in truth he was, 

 but the Squire having ordered him to be cropped and 

 docked over-nio^ht, his owner had not the slightest 

 recollection of him. As may be supposed, a hearty 

 laugh was raised at his expense, and there was an end 

 of all future, somewhat boring, exhibitions of inferior 

 animals to a man who had some of the best horses 

 that money could procure, and who was really a judge 

 of them. But I was never an admirer of practical 

 jokes, especially when, as in this instance, the suffer- 

 ings of an animal form a feature in them. Neither 

 were many of the frolics of poor Mytton creditable to 

 him. In the first place, they are always inconsistent 



