THE SQUIRE 211 



To the resident country gentleman having the 

 country hunted is of vast importance ; and fond of 

 hunting as men may be, they had better put up with 

 an inferior country and sport, than leave their homes 

 in search of better. The man who hunts from home 

 hunts in the most comfortable, rational, and satis- 

 factory way, uniting pleasure and business, and not 

 sacrificing the latter to the former. 



The man who leaves his home for hunting must, to 

 a certain extent, make a business of it, for what else 

 can he do ? Away from his ordinary pursuits and 

 occupations, he must either hunt or lie idle, and we 

 need not observe that hunting in other countries is 

 about half as expensive again as hunting from home. 

 Not only is everything to be bought and paid for at 

 full price, but many things paid for that would be had 

 for nothing at home— lodging, for instance — while a 

 stud that would be ample for all the requirements of 

 home work will be totally unequal to the demands 

 of a regular five or six days a week hunting quarter. 

 The resident, we think, must be very short of occupa- 

 tion and resources who is not satisfied with three days 

 a week at the most. 



The last quarter of a century has made a great 

 difference in the style and habits of the country 

 gentleman, and indeed, with the exception of a few 

 of the old school still remaining, such a thing as a 

 real country gentleman — that is to say, a gentleman 

 who lives all the year round in the country — is scarcely 

 to be met with. The last five-and-twenty years have 

 effected a wonderful revolution in our whole social 

 system. The means of mental resources and bodily 

 communication have been, increased a hundred-fold. 

 Railways and steamboats have superseded coaches, 

 just as magazines and newspapers have annihilated 

 books. There is quite as much improvement in 

 the mode and economy of mental improvement as 

 there is in the way of bodily transit. Information, 



