YORKSHIRE :H7 



I have said that Mr. Ward was of our part}'. I have said enough, 

 then, to show that mirth and good hiuii our were the order of the day. 

 His presence, indeed, always reminds me of Lucian's description of 

 the Elysian fields, where he makes it appear there are two springs — 

 the one of laughter, and the other of joy ; and it is almost needless to 

 add, that those who drink of them are filled with mirth and hilarity 

 for the rest of the day. The moral here is delightful to contemplate ; 

 for it is as much as to say, that, unless we bring a kind heart into 

 society, we have no business there. Here Mr, Ward may be almost 

 termed the miracle of his day. Courted as he has been for such a 

 great length of years, we might expect to find him, like a wayward 

 child, wishing to have everything his own way ; but it is not so. 

 No ; his social capacities seem to expand as his age advances, and, 

 like Saul, to be more glorious in his latter years. 



It would be tantalizing to mention the name of this I'eal old 

 English Gentleman, and not accompany it with an anecdote or two ; 

 so I hope I shall be pardoned for selecting the following. 



It is well known that this far-famed sportsman has ever Ijeen fond 

 of having his hounds high in flesh, in their work. I partly place it 

 to his having always hunted strong, wet countries, with rough 

 woodlands ; but I am not going to argue the merits of the case 

 here. We are all fond of our own systems, and, hke Pygmalion the 

 sculptor, never fail to become enamoured of our own creations. Mr. 

 Nicoll, on the other hand, feeds lightly in the spring months, and 

 we well know that hounds which work on light food will look light 

 in warm weather. "There is one advantage," said Mr. Ward, as 

 we were one morning passing away four hours in the kennel, "in 

 visiting my friend Sam Nicoll. No man need trouble himself to take 

 his razors with him ; for only let him lather his face well, and walk 

 down to the kennel, he might take any one of these hounds by the 

 head and tail, and shave himself to perfection with his back bone ! 

 These hounds," added he, "look as if they had just landed from 

 Noah's ark." 



Anecdote the second may surprise, and for this reason : — I think 

 it is Fielding who has told us, that there is an air of gentility 

 about a real gentleman wliich dress can neither give nor con- 

 ceal. Notwithstanding this, Mr. Ward told us, that a short time 



