LETTER VII. 



THE VINE HUNT, 1824— 1834. 



URING the remainder of the season, after 

 Mr. Chute's death, the hounds went out 

 occasionally, with only a groom acting as 

 whipper-in, and very few of Mr. Chute's 

 friends had any heart or inclination to go out with 

 them. The pack had become the property of his 

 brother, the Rev. Thomas Vere Chute ; and he told 

 me that, if he had been a layman, he would certainly 

 have continued them himself. As it was, it became a 

 matter of some anxiety to settle into whose care they 

 were to be confided. Undoubtedly, * the first choice! 

 as they say at Eton, was Mr. John Portal. His pro- 

 perty in the hunt, his long experience as a sportsman, 

 his old and intimate friendship with the late master, 

 all combined to point him out as his most appropriate 

 successor. I do not know whether Mr. Chute had, 

 during his illness, expressed any such wish to his 

 brother, though I think it not improbable that he did 

 so ; but it is certain that Mr. Thomas Chute offered 

 to give the pack to Mr. Portal. That gentleman, 

 however, declined to accept the onerous gift, and 

 it was still necessary to look out for a master. 



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