though heavy and cumbersome, added, by their many bright ornaments that sparkled and glittered in the sun, to the splendour of the scene the impatient and joyous clamour of the deer-hounds, and the excited spirits of the sportsmen,-all combined to render it gay beyond description. And this appearance was redoubled, when the magic of those feelings began to operate on the numerous train, in which, for a space, they were lost to all other recollections in the inebriating ecstacy of the chase; for the deer, when roused, fully equalled the expectation of old Heronshaw in size and strength, and starting off, while he threw his wide antlers in the air, soon cleared, by nimble bounds, all the impediments thrown in his way by the huntsmen, who had cast branches of trees in his path, to prevent his distancing the dogs, in the beginning of the chase, and being once quit of these hindrances, darted forward with the swiftness of the wind, three only of his followers being enabled, by the fleetness of their horses, to

keep sight of him. The foremost of the three was the same young man with whom Ruthven parted when he presented himself to the King, and who, forgetting or being ignorant of the etiquette which prevented any one from riding in advance of his Majesty, kept the lead on his active filly, that, with his light weight, appeared, as Apollo's horse of yore, to have wings added to her speed. The other two were his Majesty and Ruthven ; -for the horsemanship of the King at this period, being then in the prime of manhood, formed a complete contrast to the account given of it in his latter years by Roger Coke, who describes him to have become so lazy and unwieldy, that, as they set him on, so would he ride, without poising himself on the saddle; he was, on the contrary, at this time, what he had every right to be, from the long and diligent apprenticeship he had served to the exercise, an expert rider; for, though not gifted with the firmest nerves on other occasions, he made up for that deficiency by the extreme eagerness with which

he was possessed when following the diversion to which he had almost exclusively, since the age of thirteen, devoted all that portion of his time which was not actually occupied, while under the tuition of Buchanan, in acquiring the learning on which he so much prided himself, or, since that period, in composing those books written by him previous to his thirty-fourth year. At the period we are commemorating, therefore, he rode boldly, and Ruthven, being aware how much he at all times prided himself on being first, kept just far enough behind, that he might not be the cause of depriving him of his favourite boast.

At length the hart, after displaying all those subtle wiles which shew their amazing instinct, such as casting himself on his belly, (called making breaches,) as if weary and over-chased, and then taking suddenly a contrary course to that in which he is winded, that his breath may scatter, and the dogs be at fault,―exhibited all the signs and tokens of failing strength;-he hung

down his head, holding his nose near the ground, until, hearing the dogs behind him, although evidently reeling on his legs, he lifted his head once more, and bounding forward, forsook the wooded part of the park, and taking to the open glade, was pursued so near by the King and Ruthven, that they could perceive his tongue drawn within his mouth, his nostrils distended, and that he was every moment stumbling and sliding,-signs fatally prophetic of his exhausted state. But notwithstanding these appearances, when the dogs came up he made a noble stand, till proving too numerous and powerful, they tore him quickly to the earth, when Ruthven's young friend, who was already on the spot, leaped from his horse, and dealing him the final deathblow, raised his hunting-horn to his lips, and sounded the retreat, at the moment his Majesty came up, with the Master, who had now ridden forward, and whom he had not, in the joy and hurry of the moment, so much as perceived to be in his vicinity. Ruthven

was on his feet in an instant to assist the King in dismounting. The lad seemed somewhat abashed, when, on raising his eyes, he beheld the King; but, without the least tincture of awkwardness, he, according to the usage of the period, cut off directly the hinder right foot of the deer, and kneeling, presented it, along with his own huntingfaulchion, to James, who took it eagerly, at the same time casting a look of displeasure on the young man, as he proceeded to use it, in making a slit so deep and long in the breast of the animal, that he was up to the elbows in grease and blood, and his hands in its bowels before its heart had ceased to palpitate, or its sides to heave; in which employment, and in cutting up the venison, he continued so busy, that he appeared to notice no one, save two menials who had come up, and to whom he now and then uttered directions, as they assisted him in dismembering the animal. Nor, when this task was ended, did he forget to refresh his favourite dogs, which, calling around him,