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 wreathes, I candidly confess, I dare not here excite; and you, of course, much too knowing to be doing any thing on the first of August, save dreaming of races, archery feats, and county balls—the three most delightful things which the country can boast, either for man, woman, or child."

"Of course, you except sporting for yourself—shooting especially, I suppose."

"Shooting! oh! ah! there is such a thing. No, I'm no shot;—not that I have not in my time cultivated a Manton; but the truth is, having, at an early age, mistaken my most intimate friend for a cock pheasant, I sent a whole crowd of  'fours'  into his face, and thereby spoilt one of the prettiest countenances in Christendom; so I gave up the field. Besides, as Tom Moore says, I have so much to do in the country, that, for my part, I really have no time for killing birds and jumping over ditches: good work enough for country