Among the
other exercises of the school, also, he has introduced the ancient art
of archery, one of the Squire's favourite themes, with such success,
that the whipsters roam in truant bands about the neighbourhood,
practising with their bows and arrows upon the birds of the air, and
the beasts of the field; and not unfrequently making a foray into the
Squire's domains, to the great indignation of the gamekeepers. In a
word, so completely are the ancient English customs and habits
cultivated at this school, that I should not be surprised if the
Squire should live to see one of his poetic visions realized, and a
brood reared up, worthy successors to Robin Hood and his merry gang of
outlaws.
A VILLAGE POLITICIAN.
I am a rogue if I do not think I was designed for the helm of
state; I am so full of nimble stratagems, that I should have
ordered affairs, and carried it against the stream of a faction,
with as much ease as a skipper would laver against the wind.
--_The Goblins_.
In one of my visits to the village with Master Simon, he proposed that
we should stop at the inn, which he wished to show me, as a specimen
of a real country inn, the head-quarters of village gossips.
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