OLD ENGLISH GENTLEMAN. 185 



Master, or that he respected ray former 

 position, I cannot say, but he uniformly 

 treated me with a frank and familiar kind- 

 ness, that was as far removed from aristo- 

 cratic pride as it was from assumed conde- 

 scension or affected patronage. 



He was possessed of a great flow of animal 







spirits, but there was something more in his 

 hearty laugh when he first addressed you 

 than would strike a common observer ; and 

 there was a sincerity in his u good-bye, w 

 too, that told you plainly, with him it was 

 not " out of sight out of mind." Living in 

 the midst of a shooting country, owning 

 and hiring manors to a considerable extent, 

 rearing and preserving game in greater 

 quantities than any nobleman or gentleman 

 in the county, his house was always full of 

 company in the shooting season, and their 

 coming and going tended as much to the 

 support of the coach as to my own indivi- 

 dual advantage. Indeed, from their con- 

 versation I learnt that my name was 



