BRITISH TURF. 69 



heath, in order to dehver to him government dis- 

 patches. It was his well-known attachment to field 

 sports which, previous to the meeting of Parlia- 

 ment, after Mr. Fox's dismissal from office, at the 

 end of 1 783, gave rise to the following jeu d' esprit: — 



"intelligence extraordinary." 



" On Monday, for the entertainment of British 

 sportsmen, a noble hunting match will take place 

 upon St. Stephen's common, in consequence of a 

 remarkable fine Fox having been recently turned 

 out of the King's Park, The attention of the pub- 

 lic has been uncommonly attracted upon this occa- 

 sion ; and the odds are six to four that reynard 

 will not be run down. Though the hunters are 

 well mounted, many experienced jockies are of opi- 

 nion, that they will not be able to keep their seats, 

 and others think that the puppies of the pack are 

 not sufficiently staunch or entirely at command. 

 It is whispered also, that what the enemies of rey- 

 nard cannot accomplish by a fair chase, they mean 

 to effect by way of fraud, a very capacious Pit being 

 in his way ; though it is generally imagined that, 

 instead of falling into it, the animal, from his known 

 sagacity, will either run round, or leap over it; and 

 that upon the whole, instead of a Fox-hunt, it is 

 not improbable the day's sport will end in a wild 

 goose chase /" 



When he had a horse in a race, Mr. Fox was all 

 eagerness and anxiety. He always placed himself 



