"blackguard," he added, "will rend ye;" and he kindly conducted me to the door. The dog growled; speaking kindly to him, he led me through the hall, and when I was seated, doglike, he put his amicable nose upon my lap. The master approvingly said, "That dog, madam, is very cross and even dangerous to any ragged person or beggar that approaches the premises; but when one decently clothed enters, he welcomes them as he has done you." So much for the training of dogs, and their aptness in acquiring the spirit of their masters.
Never before, in Ireland, had so good an opportunity been presented me of becoming acquainted with the trade of a real sportsman, its merits and demerits, as now; and knowing that the occupation had been in the country quite a celebrated one, I hoped here to learn its real advantages.
Mr. Wilson was keeping the lodge for Mr. Vernon, of Clontorf Castle, near Dublin, to hunt and fowl as he best could. "I am dying," he said, "with rheumatic pains, brought on by wading through the bogs in pursuit of the hare and wild fowl." He had a noble company of dogs, terriers and pointers, and was surrounded with all the respectable insignia of a hunter of olden time. "It is a frivolous employment," he observed, "and I have long been sick of gaming." The room was hung round with all sorts of game which is taken by these gentry; and his little daughter of four years of age brought me a book containing pictures of hares, foxes, fowls and dogs, and quite scientifically
