HUNTING THE FOX 127 



millinery as for horseflesh . . . the backgrounds of 

 landscapes in Leech's drawings are as excellently 

 true to nature as the actors themselves ; our respect 

 for the genius and humour which invented both 

 increases as we look and look again at the designs." 



Handley Cross is regarded by most people as the 

 masterpiece of Surtees. For the pure Fox-hunter 

 this appreciation is certainly correct. In the pages 

 of this book there is Fox - hunting of all sorts, 

 from the romantic narratives of Michael Hardy's 

 fine hunting run, and of the last effort of the old 

 customer in the middle of a large grass field outside 

 Pinch-me-near-Forest, down to the priceless bur- 

 lesque of Fox-hunting on the Pomponius Ego day. 

 Mr. Jorrocks' sporting lectures are rich in anecdote 

 and contemporary reference. They are amusing 

 enough, if a trifle forced, and have the merit of 

 giving an advertisement to Geoffrey Gambado's 

 " Academy for Grown Horsemen." No sporting 

 library is complete without a copy of this work. 



But the student of the early Victorian epoch, 

 whether or no he or she be a Fox-hunter, will find 

 a delicious comedy of contemporary manners in 

 Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour, Ask Mamma, Plain 

 or Ringlets, and Mr. Romford's Hounds. In these 

 books we find that Surtees could not only portray 

 Huntsmen and grooms, but could with equal skill 

 present noblemen, country gentlemen, bankers, 

 parvenus, actresses, card-sharpers, farmers, and 



