96 THE WARWICKSHIRE HOUNDS. 



Lbamington. the repose and quiet with which a hunting man shakes 

 Action of the off one day's work in readiness for that of the next, 

 hotel keepers, Added to this the hotel keepers adopted a course, 

 which, also adopted by their brethren in that place, has, 

 I believe, affected seriously another town within a 

 score of miles of Leamington, which through a stroke 

 of luck some centuries ago has been placed in a most 

 enviable position to attract strangers and visitors. To 

 make hay while the sun shines is a maxim which un- 

 doubtedly should be followed, although it should also 

 be remembered that the gathering-in of the financial 

 harvest may be rushed at too hastily. The rapacious 

 character of the Leamington hotel keepers soon spread 

 abroad and the emptiness of their houses when they 

 might reasonably have been expected to be full is to be 

 ascribed so their desire for quick returns for their en- 

 terprise. The leading hotel was Copps', which was 

 A Club. fitted up at enormous expense. Here a club was 



started by Lord Eastnor, of which I may say, that its 

 earliest days were its most successful. 



To revert to the social elements which I thought 

 antagonistic to the success of Leamington as a 

 sporting centre, I may quote the remarks of a corres- 

 pondent writing during 1834-5, who described it as a 

 Some opinions of "Half-hunting, water drinking, waltzing, and amateur 

 the Spa. playing place," and who hints that the contingent it 



sent into the field of the local pack did not, as a 

 rule, conduce to the peace of mind of the master, or the 

 enjoyment of the sport by those who hunted for 

 hunting's sake. Singularly enough I have found 

 another communication from one who had made it his 

 quarters for the same season, and who extols it highly, 

 referring in terms of approbation to the balls and 

 dinners which were promoted by the members of the 

 hunt. It is very likely, therefore, that he would be 

 classed by the correspondent first referred to, as one 

 of those whose presence was more acceptable in the 

 social circle than in the field. 



