and jewellery and accent! It is easy to forgive them if they give the
whole of their minds to their white neckties, or are dejected because
they have lost the little gridiron off their chatelaine, or lose all
presence of mind when a smut settles on their noses, and turn faint at
the sight of Mrs. Gamp's umbrella!

And next to these enviable beings he loves and reveres the sportsman.
One is made to feel that the true sportsman, whether he shoots or
hunts or fishes, is an August being, as he ought to be in Great
Britain, and Leech has done him full justice with his pencil. He is no
subject for flippant satire; so there he sits his horse, or stalks
through his turnip-field, or handles his rod like a god! Handsome,
well-appointed from top to toe, aristocratic to the finger-tips--a
most impressive figure, the despair of foreigners, the envy of all
outsiders at home (including the present lecturer)!

[Illustration: A SPECIMEN OF PLUCK

RUGGLES. "Hold hard, Master George. It's too wide, and uncommon deep!"

MASTER GEORGE. "All right, Ruggles! We can both _swim_!"--_Punch_.]

He has never been painted like this before! What splendid lords and
squires, fat or lean, hook-nosed or eagle-eyed, well tanned by sun and
wind, in faultless kit, on priceless mounts! How redolent they are of
health and wealth, and the secure consciousness of high social
position--of the cool business-like self-importance that sits so well
on those who are knowing in the noblest pursuit that can ever employ
the energies and engross the mind of a well-born Briton; for they can
ride almost as well as their grooms, these mighty hunters before the