44 THE Ql/ORN HUNT. 



So they may, as regards numbers, but not 

 perfections. They can never obtain a first- 

 rate pack of hounds, except by breeding 

 them, at any cost. The farmers of Lei- 

 cestershire are fond of the sport ; they are 

 prosperous and hospitable, and they possess 

 all the fine attributes that distinguish their 

 class. That they should permit themselves 

 to be Immeasurably excelled by others in 

 the provincial countries in their apprecia- 

 tion of that which so prominently conduces 

 to the excellence of the pack, that not only 

 affords them sport, but which also promotes 

 their welfare, is an anomaly I cannot com- 

 prehend ; and I am much Inclined to the 

 conclusion, that several masters of hounds 

 have withdrawn from this cause, for nothing 

 identifies a gentleman with the country he 

 hunts more significantly than the cordial 

 co-operation of the cultivators of the soil. 



Many who were present at the sale of 

 Lord Stamford's stud, will remember the 

 kind hospitalities proffered by Mr Cradock, 

 and they, with very many others, most 

 sadly grieve that It was the last time of his 



