436 " BE THOU FAMILIAR, BUT BY NO MEANS VULGAR." 



do so, and there can be no degradation in his doing it : 

 if there was, he must not ride with hounds ; for whe- 

 ther a man rides over a country side by side with his 

 inferiors, or whether he rides over a course with them, 

 cannot make any difference as to putting them on an 

 equality after the chase or race is over, nor need either 

 produce any intimacy during their continuance ; on the 

 contrary, the bringing the noble or man of birth and 

 fortune in temporary contact with the plebeian must 

 produce a beneficial effect if the conduct and manners 

 of the former are consistent with their station in 

 society, for the latter will then see a superiority, and 

 at the same time, an urbanity of manner, in his supe- 

 rior, that will challenge his respect and goodwill ; at 

 least, so it ought to do. I am quite one to deprecate 

 the " toe of the tradesman treading on the heel of the 

 courtier ; " but that gentleman must possess little of 

 the tact of one if he suffers the mere riding a race with 

 his inferiors to bring on any improper familiarity. 

 There is among gentlemen an extreme politeness that 

 they know how to bring into play (when wanted), that 

 keeps the inferior in his proper place, without his 

 being able to account for his feeling flattered and kept 

 at a distance by the same conduct : so any fear of the 

 clashing of different classes of society by gentlemen 

 occasionally riding in races with their inferiors, I can- 

 not conceive as likely to occur. 



I am willing to allow, and have before said, that I 

 consider we have A FEW gentlemen who can ride a 

 race nearly as well as our best professional jocks, and 

 much better than some of the professionals ; but the 

 number of such gentlemen (from want of practice 

 ONLY) must be very small. In a race among gentle- 

 men I have often seen one or two ride beautifully; 

 but I must say I cannot challenge my memory with 



