THE ART OF THE FANCY. 21 



piece of " old blue " comes in his road. In the 

 country he is an amateur woodman. He also 

 has a " weakness " for Homer, and the minute 

 problems connected with the style of the original 

 blind bard. Metternich, the Austrian statesman, 

 amused himself by keeping canaries, and he was 

 as proud of his birds as he was of his most 

 astute diplomatic feats. Cardinal Mazarin was 

 great at jumping. Count Moltke is a chess- 

 player and novel reader. Ruskin collects min- 

 erals and jewels, and he has now a set worth 

 ;^30,000, on which he prides himself more than 

 he does on the Stones of Venice — the original 

 MS. of which work he presented to a friend as 

 "the memento of a wasted youth." 



The Fancier's life is a long succession of ex- 

 pectations and fulfilments, and even when he 

 meets with a disappointment, the change only 

 gives a certain piquancy to his success. Let us 

 imagine the awful case of a man beaten at a 

 show, and let us shed a sympathetic tear ! He 

 has bestowed his keenest attention and fondest 

 hopes on a certain young bird. He has watched 

 its development from the nest. Look at its 

 breadth of skull ! What a magnificent stop it 

 has ! How beautifully the feathers are broken ! 

 He is sure that its good points must captivate 



