DIGITISED MANUSCRIPTS

( 5 ) a visit, and he instituted the King’s Plate of One Hundred Guineas, to be run for by such horses as had regularly hunted with his hounds the preceding winter. His pluck in following the hounds was proverbial ; an excellent horseman, no leap saw him turn aside. It was a point of etiquette with the royal hounds that no one was permitted to ride before the King ; and men called ‘ prickers’ were specially appointed to see that it was observed. It happened on one occa- sion that a young sportsman, unable to control his horse, rode past the King, dashing some dirt into his Majesty’s face. The ‘prickers’ were about to resent this affront, when George III. good-naturedly ex- claimed, ‘ Stop! stop! never punish a man for what he can’t help.’ His fondness for horses was extended to the stable, to which he was in the habit of paying an early visit. ‘Do you see my horse?’ he once asked Lord Winchilsea. ‘I have had him twenty years, and he is good now. If you don’t know the secret I'll tell it to you: I know what he is worth, and treat him accordingly.’ A striking feature of the King’s nature was his frugality. He never indulged in more than four glasses of wine at dinner, and was known to prefer a plain mutton chop to the most elaborate dishes. In fact, his economy gave rise to sarcastic comments, and it was whispered that four pounds of meat only were regularly measured out for the royal table.