" THE COTTESMORE IN 1826." 29 



when he had his toes on the fire after dinner he would 

 crack his bottle of port with most men of his day, and 

 describe in the mildest terms the adventures of the 

 day's hunting, or of the day's shooting, as if he had 

 been the most tractable and considerate of men, and as 

 if jealousy did not exist. Of course, on a Sunday he 

 had his various avocations to perform connected with 

 his church and parish in which he was much liked. 

 He was not fond of long sermons, which was much 

 to his credit, but he was often not quite so good in 

 the tub as he was in the pigskin, and was often 

 somewhat inclined to override the clerk a good deal 

 in the responses, beginning his part of them before 

 the clerk could get out of the way, indeed I may 

 say rather jumping on the top of him in this respect. 

 In the tub he would at times be rather eloquent, and 

 if the short sermon he delivered himself of was from 

 some good author or some good manuscript, which 

 we all know, even in these days, are to be had at a 

 moderate cost, was well delivered, with a clear voice 

 and good intonation, his discourses were not otherwise 

 than instructive and did his parishioners much good. 

 The eloquence, however, and the delivery of his 

 sermons were not apt to be very powerful, and if he 

 did not hurry over them, which was apt to be the case, 



