WILD SPORT IN BRITTANY. 27 



simpler style of chase adopted in our own country. It is quite 

 true the wolf differs from the fox in the magnitude of the 

 mischief he is capable of perpetrating, when plundering or 

 pursued : the one is a pettifogging pickpocket, worrying old 

 women and gamekeepers only, while the other is a brigand on 

 a big scale, doing murder in bands, and bringing heavy loss and 

 dismay to whole communities. The fox is hunted for sport 

 alone; the wolf for the public weal; though, it must be 

 admitted, St. Prix and his friends manage to include with that 

 a vast amount of sport into the bargain. 



A Breton chasseur would as soon think of riding to hounds 

 without his saddle as without his gun ; with him it is a " vade 

 mecum," whether he pursues the hare or the roe-deer, the wolf or 

 the grisly boar. 



Not long ago, that prince of men, Lord Palmerston, was 

 entertaining a dinner-party at Cambridge House, and amused his 

 guests with an anecdote characteristic of this Breton and French 

 practice. "Last season/' said he, <; a well-known French 

 diplomatist did me the honour to pay me a fortnight's visit at 

 Broadlands; and before he left, having enjoyed two or three 

 days' fox-hunting in the neighbourhood, he expressed a wish to 

 have his portrait taken as an English chasseur, and consulted me 

 as to the artist he should employ for the work. 



" ' Frank Grant,' said I, ' is your man ; he understands horses ; 

 and, from always being in good company, his portraits look like 

 those of gentlemen and ladies.' 



" So Frank Grant was invited to Broadlands, when the follow- 

 ing conversation ensued between them : 



" ' And how,' inquired that eminent artist, ' do you wish to be 

 painted?' 



" ' Je me ferai peindre en chasseur Anglais ; le fusil a 1'epaule ; 

 a ma droite mon fidele chien ; a ma gauche un renard mort,' 

 answered the Diplomat, with the utmost gravity. 



