And

"A yacht!-oh, horrors! Well, I don't so good night.' with this uncontroverted assertion the speaker retired to his chamber. Readers, do you require a key to enlighten you as to who the two last actors on this our stage were? If so, allow us to say the younger one was the Honourable Algernon Soofoolysh-the other Mr. Fitzbyron Fitzmilton O'Toole, private tutor, &c., &c., to the hopeful heir presumptive to the Ditchwassen title. But how, why, or wherefore, let us reserve for another chapter.

(To be continued).

SPORTING REMINISCENCES IN ENGLAND AND

FRANCE.

BY A FRENCH NOBLEMAN.

MY DEAR SARON,

I am now about to give you an account of the sports and pastimes that I met with in the "free fair homes of England," and in so doing I shall studiously and carefully avoid that personality which has too often been introduced into the works of foreign travellers; with this flourish of trumpets I "throw off," and if occasionally I fall into a false idiom, I must claim your indulgence, and that of your readers, and remind you of a letter of one of your countrymen to me, who, having a card of the hotel he resided in at Paris before him, thus dated his letter" Hotel de Wágram, bien meuble." To proceed.

I know nothing more striking to a foreigner than the countryhouse life of an English nobleman; the comfort, magnificence, liberality, and gaiety that is carried on is unknown in France, Woburn, Beaudesert, Knowsley, Berkeley Castle, Badmington, Belvoir, Goodwood, are the beau ideal of princely munificence; and it astonished my weak mind not a little when I was first initiated into the delights of many of the above mentioned châteaux. Where all are agreeable, it would be invidious to select one for notice; I shall, therefore, say that on a mild drizzling morning in December I left the Clarendon Hotel for Park. The first part of my journey was performed by rail, and, securing a coupé to myself, I revelled in one of Eugene Sue's volumes during the hours that I was thus confined. Upon reaching the station where I was to transfer my precious self to a yellow post-chaise, or dice-box on wheels, as it has been felicitously called by one of your contributors, in one of his

novels, I was agreeably surprised at finding a carriage-and-four with two outriders waiting my arrival; a note was placed into my hands, saying that the carriage would convey me to the seat of my noble correspondent and host. After a most delightful drive I entered the park, and at the end of about two miles the mansion was laid open to view; a fine, extensive wooded plantation screened the domain from the cutting east wind; a herd of deer were at one extremity of the well-trimmed lawn, which extended from the southern part of the house. The day was setting in, and I passed the labourer returning from his day's work, looking cheerful and happy; a group of sportsmen with guns in hand attracted my attention, and they seemed elated with the success of their day's sport, and which I soon found was not without sufficient cause-the game-cart passed me filled with hares, pheasants, and rabbits. The carriage now stopped at the principal entrance, and almost simultaneously with the bell ringing the doors were thrown open, and some two or three servants in livery, headed by one of the upper class, received me on alighting. Without the slightest noise or bustle, orders were given to unpack the carriage at the stables, to show my servant to my room, and I was conducted to the warm and well-furnished library, where my host and many of the gentlemen staying in the house were occupied in reading the newspapers, finishing their letters, or talking over the run with the foxhounds in the morning. After a most kind, hospitable, and unaffected welcome, I took my seat before the huge wood fire, and entered into general conversation. We were now joined by the shooters, who declaimed at considerable length on their prowess-four guns; the return of the killed amounting to three hundred pheasants, twenty hares, and a dozen rabbits. A huge gong now sounded, which was the signal for adornizing. As I proceeded to my room, escorted by a groom of the chambers, I passed through a large hall, where some young Englanders, male and female, were dancing the last introduced polka, and who seemed not a little scared at my presence; the graceful and beautiful Lady C, the daughter of the house, rose from her seat at the pianoforte, and welcomed me with a modest warmth of manner that she knew was due to one of her father's friends and guests. The room that I was ushered into was the quintessence of comfort; a large blazing fire on the hearth-stone shed its influence over me, and as I looked at the well-lit and beautifully furnished apartment I could not help contrasting it with some of the cold, cheerless country houses of La belle France, and gave the palm to your native land. At seven o'clock the gong again sounded, and following a well-dressed lacquey who had been sent to pilot me through the long passages and large halls, I was shown into the drawing-room, where the hostess, after a kind greeting, introduced me to the ladies assembled around her. In a few seconds dinner was announced, and offering my hand (which I soon found ought to have been my arm) to the beautiful mistress of the domain, we passed through a line of servants in livery on one side, and the well-dressed "gentlemen's gentlemen" on the other, into the dining-room. This was splendidly illuminated; and the sideboard, which reached nearly to the summit of the apartment, was stored with

At

gold and silver plate, including vases and prizes which had been won by the noble owner and his ancestors upon the turf and at the agricultural shows, or which had been presented to him by the farmers, in consideration of the great estimation he was held in as a landlord and friend to the soil. The dinner was excellent, and the wine splendid every sort, from "humble port to imperial tokay." The long sitting after the ladies had retired was to me the only drawback, for during that tedious period the poor and corn laws were so prosingly discussed that I own I wished myself almost in the union workhouse to escape the dulness of the conversation. length our host inquired whether we had had wine enough; and all answering in the affirmative, we speedily joined the ladies. The evening passed off delightfully; there was no formality; every one amused himself or herself according to their own fancies. Some strolled into the billiard-room; others played at ecarté or chess; a few grouped themselves round the pianoforte to hear the dulcet strains of Rossini, Mozart, and Haydn, sang by a most exquisite voice; while a larger party of the young retired to a large gallery where polkas and waltzes were the order of the evening. At eleven o'clock the stately butler, accompanied by two powdered and pampered footmen, entered the drawing-room, and deposited a tray with sandwiches, wine, negus, whiskey and water; and from that hour the party separated accord ing to their own pleasure. I was awoke from my "rosy dreams" by the loud-toned stable-bell tolling the hour of eight; and, getting up, I strolled into the picture gallery to admire the mellow touch, the glowing and lively colouring, and the exquisite finish of a Rubens ; the elegance, grace, and natural animation of a Vandyke; the unrivalled brilliancy of a Titian, the faithful portraiture of a Rembrandt, the beautiful expression of a Guido, the bold and grand conception of a Salvator Rosa, the warmth of a Lely, who

"On animated canvass stole

The sleepy eye, that spoke the melting soul;"

66

the admirable delineations of a Teniers and an Ostade, the finished perspective of a Canaletti, or the rich vein of satire of a Hogarth. Whilst thus amusing myself, a gentleman of most agreeable manners and deportment, and who I afterwards ascertained to be the librarian, accosted me, and, volunteering his services, entered at great length into the art of painting. "Plato, who flourished four hundred years before the Christian era," said the talented bookworm, assures us that the Egyptians practised painting 1,000 years before he wrote, both on the bandages of mummies, on the walls of the temples, and in the tombs at Thebes, Denderah, and other places in Upper Egypt. Cleanthes of Corinth was the first Greek painter of simple outline; Telephanus of Sicyon, and Ardices of Corinth, improved on outlines, though still without colour." Finding I was so deeply interested at the research of my newly formed acquaintance, he continued: "Bularchus painted the battle of the Magnerians seven hundred years before the Christian era, and this picture was bought by the king of Lydia for its weight in gold. Anacreon, who lived five hundred years before our era, mentions the practice of the art,

and that it was effected by mixing wax with their colours, called encaustic painting. Pliny is lavish in his eulogy on the powers of Polygnotus, who lived four hundred and thirty years before the birth of our Saviour; and we find that during this and the three following generations the names of Aglaophon, Cephissodorus, Phyrylus, Evenor, Apollodorus, Zeuxis, Timanthes, Pamphilus, Euxenidas, and Apelles, as artists of no mean renown. After the founding of Rome, Aurellius, Ludius, Amulius, in Nero's reign; Turpilius, Cornelius Pinus, Accius Priscus, in the days of Vespasian, were the painters of the period." Thanking my guide for his information, and begging that he would not devote his time to so unworthy an amateur as myself, he replied by assuring me that it would give him the greatest pleasure to show me the lions of the house after breakfast. This courteous offer I gladly accepted, and was shortly afterwards summoned to breakfast. From what I had heard of this meal in England, and remembering the lines of your poet Anacreon Moore, who, in eulogizing a French déjeuner à la fourchette, thus expresses himself

"There, Dick; what a breakfast! O not like your ghost

Of a breakfast in England-your vile tea and toast,"

I own I was not prepared for the luxury, comfort, and independence of this repast. In addition to a long table covered with a snow-white damask cloth, there were two or three smaller ones placed near the windows; and no sooner had you entered the room and selected your party or taken your solitary place, than a servant out of livery brought you a small bill of fare, on which was written a variety of the most dainty dishes, the piquant cutlet, the well-flavoured rognons au vin de Madere, the stimulating grilled pheasant, the simple eggs and bacon, the savoury omelette aux fines herbes, the rich slices of salmon, and the unpretending fried sole: the sideboard, too, literally groaned under the weight (I give the usual newspaper fashionable phrase) of cold eatables; the baron of beef, the pleasant, partridge, fowl, ham, game pies, paté de foie gras, thon marinée, and every other luxury of native and foreign produce; the purest white bread in every size and form, tea, coffee, chocolate, with the richest cream and the best tasted butter, furnished a meal that would have gladdened the heart of a Heliogabulus, Apicius, Louis dix Huit, or any other bon vivant of ancient or modern days. During breakfast my noble host begged that his guests would arrange their plans for the day. The hounds were to meet within three miles of the house, and there were horses for those who would like to join in the chace or accompany some of the young ladies to see the hounds throw off. There were pony carriages for those who preferred driving to equestrian exercise. The keepers were to be at the lodge gate at eleven o'clock for those who patronized shooting; and the parties, if they exceeded eight, were to be divided into two beats. The race-horse stable was to be open immediately after breakfast, and the tennis-court and billiard-table ready throughout the day for those who liked indoor exercise. The ladies were to fill up their time in little " nothings;" playing, singing, working, and sauntering in the summer-houses, orangery,

and conservatories until that all-important female meal, luncheon, the early dinner of your ancestors, who supped at the hour you now dine, was announced. No sooner was that finished than the carriages were to be at the door to take any who liked shopping to the neighbouring country town. Such was the routine of the day.

Being myself devoted to horses and the sports of the field, I availed myself of my host's kindness, to walk through the racingstable, and afterwards accept a mount with the hounds. The stable was a splendid building forming a large quadrangle, and the stalls and the loose boxes the most perfect I ever saw. The trainer was a downright, good, honest man, and who had the pedigree of every horse at his tongue's end from the days of Flying Childers down to the last winner of the Derby. He had an anecdote of every sporting character that had flourished at Newmarket during his time; but as I was reminded that the hounds met at half-past eleven, I was compelled to postpone my visit to the stables until a further occasion. The hounds met at a small wood not more than three miles from the house, and upon reaching the covert's side I was presented to the master of the pack, a plain-spoken English country gentleman, who was a stanch Conservative, more especially of foxes, and a thorough-bred sportsman. The field was not numerous, and consisted of some dozen gentlemen in pink, with a few farmers wellmounted, anxious to display the powers of their steeds, with a view of pocketing a couple of hundred pounds for their young though promising hunters. A party of ladies from the park arrived on horseback, and we were indulging in what your talented authoress, Mrs. Gore, calls "the coffee-house part of hunting," when a cry was heard, and away we all scurried at an awful pace. "Gently, gentlemen; hold hard if you please," exclaimed the huntsman. "Blue Bell has it! Good old bitch. Hark to Blue Bell!" The fox made his first point for Warbleton Gorse, went through it, away to Eastdeen brake, and then over some fine grass fields in the direction of Beacon Hill, but being hard-pressed he declined facing the hill, turned, and went to ground in a drain. From the drain he was quickly bolted, and then made his point at once for the covert where he was found, went through it, and on to Warbleton over nearly the same line as the first ring. Here a long check occurred; the hounds hit off the scent again, and after a run of forty-five minutes we killed in the open. As a foreigner, I was presented with the brush; an honour which, "though I say it as should not," was fairly won by me, for being admirably mounted, I went all day, as one of my most popular countrymen now naturalized in England said, "as if I had a letter for the fox, and was in a great hurry to deliver it." Upon my return home I visited the kennel, and was delighted with the management of it; there was a place for everything, and everything was in its place. Warm baths for hounds and horses, and every other comfort and luxury that modern art and science have brought to bear for the advantage of the canine race. After seeing the hounds fed, I began to feel that my own inward man required some refreshment; and whether I looked half-starved and hungry, or whether the huntsman wished to try what effect a few glasses of strong ale would produce