THE REV. JOHN RUSSELL. 295 



" Then he would tell of one, whose royal 

 crown of beam and branches proclaimed him 

 king of the forest — a deer so savage that, when 

 he was brought to bay in a farmyard, no one 

 for some time dared to approach him. At 

 length, as he shifted his quarters closer to the 

 house, Russell was let out of a window, and 

 with the aid of a rope was able to secure 

 the noble beast and avert the danger that 

 threatened the hounds. 



"I see in my father's stag-hunting note- 

 book," continues Mr. Lucas, "an instance re- 

 corded of Russell's indomitable pluck : the 

 stag had crossed the Taw, when, coming to 

 the bank of that turbulent stream, Russell, 

 without hesitation dashed into it and swam to 

 the opposite shore ; while, of all the field, one 

 man only was bold enough to face the stream 

 and follow the hounds. 



" Again, I myself, witnessed an act of cour- 

 age on Russell's part which I can never forget. 

 We had driven our stag, after a long run, to the 

 foot of the Ouantock Hills ; and there, with five 

 or six couple of hounds only, had brought him 

 to bay in a small stream, just deep enough to 

 compel them to swim, while he stood firm on 

 his legs. What was to be done, for there was 

 no one up but Russell and myself ? The situa- 

 tion was a most critical one, as, with lowered 

 beam and defiant air, the deer's charge appeared 



