lge
his vein for hunting, coursing, cock-fighting, and the unrestricted
pleasures of the table and the bottle. A good story is told of him and
his friend, the colonel, who, having invited some unsophisticated farmer
to partake of the festivities of the castle, laid him low with strong
potations of _black strap_, and in that state had him carried forth to
the stable-yard, where he was immured up to his neck in warm horse-dung,
the pious ex-chaplain reading the burial-service over him in presence of
the surviving members of the hunt."

"Who the deuce is that pleasant-looking fellow," said Bob, "who appears
to give and gain the _quid pro quo_ from every body that passes him?"
"That, my dear fellow, is the Grand Marshal of all the merry meetings
here, and a very gentlemanly, jovial, and witty fellow; just such a man
as should fill the office of master of the ceremonies, having both seen
and experienced enough of the world to know how to estimate character
almost at a first interview; he is highly and deservedly respected.
There is a very affecting anecdote in circulation respecting his
predecessor, the detail of which I much regret that I have lost; but
the spirit of the affair was too strongly imprinted upon my memory to be
easily obliterated. He had, it appears, loved a beauteous girl in
early life, and met with a reciprocal return; but the stern mandate
of parental authority prevented their union. The lover, almost
broken-hearted, sought a distant clime, and, after years of peril,
returned to England, bringing with him a wife. The match had been one
~235~~of interest, and they are seldom those of domestic bliss. It
proved so here--he became dissipated, and squandered away the property
he had possessed himself of by marriage. In this situation, he collected
together the wreck of his fortunes, and retired to Cheltenham, where his
amiable qualities and gentlemanly conduct endeared him to a large circle
of acquaintance, and, in the end, he was induced to accept the situation
of master of the ceremonies. Time rolled on, and his former partner
being dead, he was, from his volatile and thoughtless disposition,
again plunged in difficulties, and imprisoned for debt. The circumstance
became known to her at whose shrine in early life he had vowed eternal
devotion: with a still fond recollection of him, who alone had ever
shared her heart, she hastened to the spot, and, being now a wealthy
spinster, paid all his debts and released