13-i THE HUNTING-FIELD. 



one. I grant that^ in a general way^ I sliould say 

 sucli a man is better at liorae^ or in a pony 

 phaeton, than with fox-hounds ; yet what should 

 we say if we found, what very possibly might be 

 the case_, that he really loved hunting better, and 

 knew more about it and hounds, than ourselves ? 

 I can only say that, figuratively speaking, I should 

 take my hat off to such a man as my superior as a 

 sportsman, though I might well know he would 

 not face the commonest gate for 1000/. Eliding 

 boldly certainly shows determination and courage, 

 but the not doing so by no means is proof of the 

 general want of it; there is a peculiar kind of 

 constitutional nerve necessary to make a bold 

 rider, and practice makes such riding habitual; 

 still a man may possess courage of the highest 

 order if called on, that cannot, or at all events 

 does not, show nerve in the chase. 



There is not only a good deal, but a great deal, 

 of arbitrary exclusiveness in certain hunts : very 

 aristocratic, very fashionable all this may be ; 

 whether it is perfectly in unison with the courteous 

 liberality of gentlemanly demeanour, is not for me 

 to say. The man making his appearance at a meet 

 at Oadby Toll-gate, if it was known he had but 

 two or three hunters, would be held as a nobody, 

 or as one that nobody knows ; if he rode merely 

 fairly, was seen watching every hound and the 

 hunting without noticing Piow others' horses went_, 



