to be attributed to Mr. Freeman's ignorance of what is really done and said in the hunting-field,--perhaps to his misunderstanding of Cicero's words. There was a rejoinder to my answer, and I asked for space for further remarks. I could have it, the editor said, if I much wished it; but he preferred that the subject should be closed. Of course I was silent. His sympathies were all with Mr. Freeman,--and against the foxes, who, but for fox-hunting, would cease to exist in England. And I felt that _The Fortnightly_ was hardly the place for the defence of the sport. Afterwards Mr. Freeman kindly suggested to me that he would be glad to publish my article in a little book to be put out by him condemnatory of fox-hunting generally. He was to have the last word and the first word, and that power of picking to pieces which he is known to use in so masterly a manner, without any reply from me! This I was obliged to decline. If he would give me the last word, as he would have the first, then, I told him, I should be proud to join him in the book. This offer did not however meet his views. [Footnote 9: I have written various articles for it since, especially two on Cicero, to which I devoted great labour.] It had been decided by the Board of Management, somewhat in opposition to my own ideas on the subject, that the _Fortnightly Review_ should always contain a novel. It was of course natural that I should write the first novel, and I wrote _The Belton Estate_. It is similar in its attributes to _Rachel Ray_ and to _Miss Mackenzie_. It is readable, and contains scenes which are true to life; but it has no peculiar merits, and will add nothing to my reputation as a novelist. I have not looked at it since it was published; and now turning back to it in my memory, I seem to remember almost less of it than of any book that I have written. CHAPTER XI. _THE CLAVERINGS_--THE _PALL MALL GAZETTE_--_NINA BALATKA_--AND _LINDA TRESSEL_. _The Claverings_, which came out in 1866 and 1867, was the last novel which I wrote for the _Cornhill_; and it was for this that I received the highest rate of pay that was ever accorded to me. It was the same length as _Framley Parsonage_, and the price was £2800. Whether much or little, it was offered by the proprietor of the magazine, and was paid in a single cheque.