AN APPRECIATION 319 



were, we can turn to his own portrait of 

 '' Pomponius Ego" — not really a very highly 

 coloured one. To that class of writer Surtees 

 put an end. 



Judging by the condition of his principal 

 work, for such we must take the books relat- 

 ing to Jorrocks to be, sustained and continued 

 effort was probably distasteful to Surtees. 

 From the fragments of the Jaunts and 

 Jollities we come to a continuous narrative 

 lasting over some months (from the middle 

 of one hunting season to the beginning of 

 the next) in Handley C^^oss. But of his 

 hero's doings during at least the latter half 

 of this time we learn indirectly from the 

 account of the two lawsuits which, at least 

 the latter of them, are almost a blemish on 

 an otherwise delightful book. The proceed- 

 ings of the Lunacy Commission contain, it is 



