20 THE PIGEON-FANCIER. 



The Fancier is apt to be a vain man (I am 

 impartial — so my censure will accredit my 

 praise). He is vain of his success. Perhaps he 

 may even give vent to a little brag on occasion. 

 "Such and such a bird I bred won First at 

 Birmingham and Cup at the Palace — it was the 

 best bird of its variety ever seen." But who 

 is hurt by his innocent self-assertion ? Nobody. 

 How very complacently he listens to welcome 

 praise, and how well he persuades himself that 

 he is perfectly modest and indifferent to all 

 vanities — but we know that he is not. 



Busying himself from day to day with things 

 which the " superior person " regards disdain- 

 fully, the temptations of idleness are withdrawn 

 from him, and whilst he is riding his hobby he 

 gathers strength and freshness which enable him 

 to grapple with the essential labours of life. All 

 strong men who have moved in the world have 

 had their hobbies. The great Earl Chatham, 

 when weary of the Parliamentary hurly-burly, 

 would retire to his gardens and woods at Hayes, 

 and he was content to potter about among his 

 roses all day long. Gladstone, great at work 

 and great at play, mounts three hobbies. In 

 London he hunts after old china ; he is delighted 

 as a school-boy with a new bat when a rare 



