THOMAS ASSHETON SMITH. 179 



of fists clenched in his face, in so pugilistic an attitude 

 that the fellow took to his heels, and, amidst the jeers of 

 his comrades, ran away. 



In 1794 Tom Smith quitted Eton to become a gentle- 

 man commoner at Christ Church, Oxford, where, with 

 great diligence and assiduity, he hunted regularly in 

 Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire, — became a fearless 

 swimmer, — learnt to pull a sturdy oar on the Isis, — was a 

 good shot and billiard-player, — and excelled as a batsman 

 in the cricket-field on Cowley Marsh and Bullingdon. 

 On leaving the University he became a member of the 

 Marylebone Club and a regular attendant at Lord's during 

 the summer ; he was also a member of the Eoyal Yacht 

 Club. Mr. Smith's love for science and shipbuilding 

 induced him to build several sailing and steam yachts. 

 He considered himself to be the practical originator of 

 the wave line, and, by the advice of the Duke of Wel- 

 lington, he submitted to the First Lord of the Admiralty 

 some important hints for improving the construction of 

 gunboats. In autumn, winter, and spring, he instinc- 

 tively " went to the dogs," or, as in sporting phraseology 

 it is termed, *'took to hunting," so eagerly, that in 1800, 

 when only twenty-four years old, he was signalized in 

 song as a daring rider in that celebrated run from Billesden 

 Coplow, in which but four gentlemen, with Jack Eaven 

 the Whip, were able to live with the hounds. 



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