336 THE POST AND THE PADDOCK- 



opinion was that they never enjoyed it after a lift as if 

 they had done it themselves. His pace in casting was 

 always guided by the scent he was engaged with; but 

 careful as he was on this point, we have known him 

 cross the line, and come back over the same ground 

 in the slowest walk, hit him, hunt up to him, and 

 kill him. Had he had full scope for his genius, he 

 would have been handed down as the first sportsman 

 that ever graced the annals of the chase. 



What may be done by change of system, good 

 judgment, and common sense, is illustrated most 

 strongly in the instance of the late Lord Spencer, 

 then Lord Althorp, when he took the Pytchley 

 country. He gave 1,000 guineas to John Warde for 

 his hounds, and never bred, we believe, but from 

 one dog hound in the pack, who was bred by Mr. 

 Lee Anthony. His name was Charon, and he was 

 the sire of some of the best hounds in after-days, 

 and amongst them of a bitch called Arrogant, who 

 was perhaps the most extraordinary hound that ever 

 hunted a fox. She combined hunting, chasing, nose, 

 and stoutness, in a manner that no hound we ever 

 heard of could equal. Lord Althorp sent his bitches 

 to the best hounds in the kingdom, regardless of any 

 trouble or expense. He began with a pack which 

 with anything like a scent invariably tired to their 

 fox; and drawing for a second, after even a very 

 moderate run, was a thing quite out of the question. 

 It must be allowed, however, that John Wardens 

 hounds had one quality, which to a man about to 

 form a pack was most invaluable, and that was their 

 extreme steadiness. There were between twenty 

 and thirty couple of old hounds, who would run 

 nothing but fox. As schoolmasters they were be- 

 yond all value, and mainly contributed to the great 

 superiority which the pack in future years so strongly 

 evinced. When my lord got what he liked, it was 

 one of the most perfect establishments that ever 



