324 NIMROD'S HUNTING TOUR 



been pretty well tumbled about ; but I know you have had rather 

 more than your share of hard blows : tell me how you have escaped." 

 — " Why, Sir," replied Bob, " I have been very roughly handled. I 

 have broke three ribs a one side, and two a t'other ; both collar- 

 bones ; one thigh ; and been scalped. You remember, Sir Watkin's 

 Valentine ? "* — " To be sure," interrupted I ; "as vicious a brute as 

 ever had a saddle on." — " Well, Sir," continued he, " he tumbled me 

 down just as we were coming away with a fox from Marchwielgorse, 

 and kicked me on the head till the skin hung down all over my eyes 

 and face ; and do you hnoic, Sir, (laying an emphasis on those words 

 as if they were intended to convey something more than was 

 expected), wlien I gets to Wrexham, I faints for loss of blood." — Now 

 after all this, who can wonder that this gallant horseman, and 

 certainly first-rate artist in his line, should like to sit under the 

 shade of his laurels for the rest of his life, and make it a merry one 

 if he cannot make it a long one ! Who knows also that he may not 

 have read Tom Moore ? 



" Friend of my soul ! this goblet sip, 

 'Twill chase that i^ensive tear ; 

 'Tis not so sweet as woman's lip, 

 But, oh ! 'tis more sincere." 



Although all conditions of life are equal in the sight of God, " and 

 of a wise man too," says a philosopher ; yet there is a wide differ- 

 ence in the treatment of servants by their Lords. Some are peremp- 

 tory in every command, inexorable to every failing, and use their 

 domestics as brutes ; whilst others treat them with great kindness, 

 and for the most part receive kindness in return. In the private 

 relations of life, nothing tells more to a man's credit, or ensures him 

 a better name in the country, than the reputation of being a good 

 master to his servants. When Shakespeare's Lear asks old Kent, 

 Why he wislied to be in his service ? I think he answers, "Because 

 you have that in your face which I should like to call master." The 

 old boy was no bad judge ; for we have heai'd from very high 

 authority " how good and pleasant a thing it is to live together in 

 unity." In the language of metaphor, it has been compared to the 



* Bob Williams commenced as whipper-in to Sir Watkin Williams Wynne, 

 Bart., with whom he 1 ved several years. 



