THE HOUND 35 



hiding the high-strung nerves, without which all 

 that power would be wasted. To combine strength 

 with quality is the most difficult thing in the 

 breeding of either horses or hounds ; but I think 

 success has been attained in this respect by the 

 Duke of Rutland's pack. 



The three famous Belvoir huntsmen, Goodall, 

 Goosey, and Gillard, have improved and handed 

 down to posterity a strain of blood that will leave 

 its mark on every kennel in England ; but it 

 must not be forgotten that these huntsmen have 

 had every assistance and encouragement from each 

 successive owner of the pack. A perfect fox- 

 hound is like a great picture — its wondrous beauty 

 grows upon you by degrees, and the more you 

 look the more you admire ; but also, like the 

 picture, it can never be copied on canvas success- 

 fully, and that is why no hound has yet been 

 properly painted. A portrait must either fail as 

 a likeness or as a picture. The one is an indifferent 

 copy of God's handiwork, and the other should 

 be the execution of an artist's creation conceived 

 by a mind divine. All copies are an abomina- 

 tion, and art is born only in imagination. Until 

 there is a breeder and lover of the animal who 



