lis THE HUNTING FIET.D 



him a " screw ; " and so they ring the changes on the charge 

 through all the transactions of life. Nothing, however, insures 

 a man the charge of shabbiness equal to foiling another in -^do. 

 It is propagated with double rancour, for the delinquent to 

 screen himself and get his revenge. The man must lead a 

 wretched life who troubles himself with thinking what " the 

 world says of him." 



It may generally be remarked, in looking over a hunting field, 

 that the Grooms who are the neatest and best turned out them- 

 selves, have their horses best turned out too. This turn-out of 

 self is difficult to define, varying, when out of livery, according 

 to the taste of the wearer, and when in livery, restricted a good 

 deal to the cut and putting on of the clothes. x\ woolly-hatted 

 Groom has always a shaggy-headed horse. That is a rule 

 admitting of no e.xception. Dingy-clothed Grooms, with inky- 

 looking tops, have always dull-coated, ill-conditioned horses. 

 Fellows with Britannia-metal-looking spurs, gloveless fists, 

 sloggering boots with the straps hanging out, unbrushed coats, 

 burst seams, stained waistcoats, fl\'ing-ended neckcloths, 

 generally have their choke-bands as tight as they can draw 

 them, and the head-stalls of the bridles flapping about, with 

 buckles and bits as dull as pewter. Some fellows can " dress 

 the Groom "' and can do nothing else. Others, again, are fond 

 of horses, just as a child is fond of a kitten ; but, as to any 

 real hard work about them, that they have no taste for. These 

 creatures are only fit for pony phaetons, or Mr. Brown's 

 one-horse cha}'. Of all abominations, however, that of slang 

 servants is the greatest — fellows who lard their answers with 

 cant terms, get their waistcoats as near their knees, and their 

 breeches as near their ankles as they can. 



An ill-mannered servant is a thing no gentleman should have. 

 Manner is a thing that speaks for itself, therefore a master has 

 no excuse in saying he did not see the want of it when he hired 

 the servant- There is nothing bespeaks the low-li\-ed ill- 



