Mr. Osbaldeston. 315 



shadow came the very next year between this Robin 

 Hood and Little John, of the Charnwood Forest. At 

 no time of his life was he a hard rider, and he had 

 once a narrow escape from being drowned when with 

 the Badsworth, from his horse falling on to him in a 

 deep pond, in a farm-yard, whose surface was covered 

 with chaff. Some years before he had very severe 

 jaundice ; but it was only within the last two of his 

 life that he failed so decidedly, and latterly his surgeon 

 had to be in attendance on him three times a day. 

 The strong man was bowed at last ; his strength at 

 fourscore years had indeed become labour and sorrow, 

 and he might well long to be at rest near his old 

 Ackworth home. Jealousy he had long lived down, 

 and in the years to come he will continue to point a 

 moral in Englishmen's hearts, as the especial type 

 of one 



" Who through the moil and dust of life 

 Went forward undenled." 



When shall we again see such a man as Mr. Osbal- 

 deston, on such a horse as Assheton, with three such 

 hounds as Tarquin, Furrier, and Vaulter at his side, 

 and two such whips as Tom Sebright and Dick 

 Burton ? It was a rare combination of human and 

 brute talent. The ambition of "The Squire" from 

 his earliest to his latest day was to be talked about 

 Modern men have the same aspiration, but the means 

 are very easy and Sybaritic in comparison. They 

 don't care what prices they give for a hunter, a race- 

 horse, a hack, or a yacht, provided it is duly chronicled. 

 " The Squire," on the contrary, trusted not to pocket, 

 but to hand and eye for his fame. He never rested 

 till he was at the head of the hunting, the pigeon- 

 shooting, the steeple-chasing, the cricket, and the 

 billiard world. Now it is enough for a man to be 

 prominent in one branch of sporting science, but Mr. 

 Osbaldeston aspired to nearly all, and not a soul 

 breathing could touch him all round. Cue, bridle, 



