THE REV. JOHN RUSSELL. 279 



It is to Russell, no doubt, and probably to 

 Mr. Jekyll, the rector of Hawkridge, that Mr. 

 Collyns alludes, when, observing that the re- 

 creation of the chase is deemed incompatible 

 with the duties of clerical life, he thus adds : 

 "For myself, I will say that, without w^ishing 

 to see the dignitaries of the Church again 

 maintaining their kennels of hounds, I should 

 feel regret if I were to miss from the field 

 the familiar faces of some of those members 

 of the clergy who now join in the sport of 

 our country, and whose presence is always 

 welcomed at the covert side." 



Without records of any kind to refer to, 

 beyond those dependent on memory and oral 

 tradition alone, the attempt to give anything like 

 a detailed account of Russell's sport and doings 

 with the staghounds would be at once a difficult 

 and most thankless task. Local descriptions, 

 however wild and grand the scenery may be, 

 don't suit the general reader, and are too often 

 followed with difficulty, even by those to whom 

 the landmarks of the country are well known. 



The "sport of kings," however, has formed 

 so considerable a portion of Russell's hunting 

 life, that to make no reference to it in this 

 memoir would be an omission which not only 

 modern Actasons, but manv a fair follower of 

 the buskined queen, would look upon as unpar- 

 donable. For has not he, from time beyond 



