20 THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 



exclaimed Lady Charlotte ; " I insist upon it, he does no 

 such thing. What could put it into the man's head to 

 doctor my children 1 " Frank was again silent, when he 

 was at length addressed by the tutor, in rather a grave 

 tone. " If you had remained at home this morning, 

 Frank, and done what I wished you translated that 

 chapter in Aurelius, De viris illustribus, and finished your 

 exercise on the battle of Pharsalia, you would not have 

 met with these disasters, but would have been able to have 

 taken the field with the harriers to-morrow, whereas you 

 will now be obliged to remain at home, as I fear not even 

 the raw beef-steak would have prevented your having a 

 black eye, in which case you could not, of course, appear 

 abroad." At the mention of the word battle, the blood 

 rushed to Frank's face, conceiving that the "murder was 

 out ; " but such was not the case. Contrary to expecta- 

 tion, the doctor did not blab, and the event of the fight 

 never reached beyond the walls of the servants' hall of 

 the Abbey, although it was widely spread among the 

 surrounding villagers, who were loud in their praises of 

 the young Dares. 



Mr. Egerton, the tutor, was one of those old-fashioned 

 clergymen of the Church of England, once so highly 

 looked up to by the people, but now supplanted, in too 

 many instances, by a new-fashioned sort, who, by preach- 

 ing for an hour or more on subjects which their hearers 

 do not understand, and too often creating doubts which 

 they cannot themselves remove, drive thousands from 

 their churches to seek for instruction elsewhere. 



He was old-fashioned enough to consider the true philo- 

 sophy of life, as well as the duty of his profession, to 

 consist in endeavouring to assuage the evils of human 

 nature by any means, provided they war not against the 

 soul. Fanaticism, with its long train of gloomy terrors, 

 he left to those who practised it, and was inclined even 

 to think, with Lord Shaftesbury, that gravity is too often 

 but another word for imposture. He considered that we 

 are entitled to enjoy the good things of this life when 

 honestly procured, and that it were the height of in- 

 gratitude not to taste with satisfaction the liberal bounty 

 of Providence. All he insisted upon was that when our 

 wishes are gratified, and the cup of fortune full, we 

 should not drink it to the dregs. 



Having said this, it is almost needless to add, that Mr. 



