210 BRITISH DOGS 



to all frequenters of shows this quaint animal, with his short, 

 bandy legs and heavy body, has now become familiar ; and a 

 better knowledge of his intrinsic qualities has secured for him 

 admirers, even among those who, on his first introduction, scoffed 

 at him as a deformity, a disproportioned beast, with the clumsy 

 gait and the abnormal strength often found in misshapen dwarfs. 



This better acquaintance and closer study of the Basset have 

 compelled a change in the view taken of the breed, and most 

 unprejudiced persons are now ready to admit that these hounds 

 possess characteristics worthy of the admiration of both the sports- 

 man and the dog-lover ; consequently, they are no longer looked 



FIG. 52. THE LATE SIR EVERETT MILLAIS'S SMOOTH BASSET MODEL. 



upon as when Mr. Millais first exhibited Model, at Wolverhampton, 

 in 1875 as oddities or curiosities, only fit for a place in a museum 

 of the Canida, and, as the rector's wife said of Di Vernon, " of 

 no use in the 'varsal world." 



There is reason for believing that the preceding article on the 

 breed, contributed to the original edition of " British Dogs " by 

 " Wildfowler," was a powerful incentive to that study of the Basset 

 which has resulted in its becoming a recognised British breed. 



Mr. Everett Millais (who died soon after succeeding to the title 

 on the death of his father) imported Model in 1874, the portrait of 

 which, drawn by Mr. R. H. Moore, from an oil painting by Sir 

 J. E. Millais, R. A., is given with this chapter (Fig. 52). Mr. E. Millais 



