he midst of their
gambols would glance an eye occasionally upon a small switch he carried
in his hand.

The old mansion had a still more venerable look in the yellow sunshine
than by pale moonlight; and I could not but feel the force of the
Squire's idea, that the formal terraces, heavily moulded balustrades,
and clipped yew-trees, carried with them an air of proud aristocracy.
There appeared to be an unusual number of peacocks about the place, and
I was making some remarks upon what I termed a flock of them, that
were basking under a sunny wall, when I was gently corrected in my
phraseology by Master Simon, who told me that, according to the most
ancient and approved treatise on hunting, I must say a MUSTER of
peacocks. "In the same way," added he, with a slight air of pedantry,
"we say a flight of doves or swallows, a bevy of quails, a herd of deer,
of wrens, or cranes, a skulk of foxes, or a building of rooks." He went
on to inform me, that, according to Sir Anthony Fitzherbert, we ought to
ascribe, to this bird "both understanding and glory; for, being praised,
he will presently set up his tail chiefly against the sun, to the intent
you may the better behold the beauty thereof. But at the fall of the
leaf, when his tail falleth, he will mourn and hide himself in corners,
till his tail come again as it was."

I could not help smiling at this display of small erudition on so
whimsical a subject; but I found that the peacocks were birds of some
consequence at the Hall, for Frank Bracebridge informed me that they
were great favourites with his father, who was extremely careful to
keep up the breed; partly because they belonged to chivalry, and were
in great request at the stately banquets of the olden time; and partly
because they had a pomp and magnificence about them, highly becoming
an old family mansion. Nothing, he was accustomed to say, had an air of
greater state and dignity than a peacock perched upon an antique stone
balustrade.

Master Simon had now to hurry off, having an appointment at the parish
church with the village choristers, who were to perform some music of
his selection. There was something extremely agreeable in the cheerful
flow of animal spirits of the little man; and I confess I had been
somewhat surprised at his apt quotations from authors who certainly
were not in the range of every-day reading. I mentioned this last
circumstance to Frank Bracebridge, who told me with a smile that Master
S