(^Anthony Trollope 



rather mechanical. Other authors may, however, have done 

 something of the sort and not have disclosed their method. 

 Trollope gave it away in his autobiography, and according 

 to Mr. Gosse, suffered somewhat in popularity as a conse- 

 quence of his honesty. But however unromantic his method, 

 he never makes a mistake in writing about Fox-hunting. 

 He brings in sundry days' sport in more than one of his 

 books, and wrote eight hunting sketches for * The Pall Mall 

 Gazette,^ which were printed in a volume by themselves in 

 1865. All the sketches are well informed. There is nothing 

 much in them about Hounds, except some very sound pieces 

 of advice in his paper on ' How to ride to Hounds.' He 

 advises the would-be rider to Hounds not to ride to points, 

 but to keep his eye on the leading Hound, and turn when 

 he turns. Never to ride behind the Hounds, but alongside 

 them is another golden rule insisted on by Trollope. Any 

 one, he says, can ride among the Hounds on a bad scenting 

 day. At such times he advises his pupil to retire some- 

 what from the crowd, and * give place to those eager men 

 who are breaking the huntsman's heart.' This is the bitter 

 cry of the true sportsman, and shows more feeling than do 

 many of his novels. 



And what could be better than his final paragraph ? He 

 was evidently writing of something that he loved better than 

 Cathedral Closes and overpaid Wardens. Here it is : — 



* Not behind hounds, but alongside of them, — if only you can 

 achieve such position, — it should be your honour and glory to 

 place yourself ; and you should go so far wide of them as in no 



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