280 NIMROD'S HUNTING TOUR 



weight. I was, indeed, given to understand by all who spoke of 

 him, that I should find him everything that a man ought to be ; 

 but as Pliny says of a contemporary of his, I found him " superior 

 to all that was reported of him."" To the ardour of the sportsman, 

 he adds the high polish of a gentleman ; and he has distinguished 

 himself for — perhaps one of our rarest virtues — sincerity in his 

 friendships. In all probability I may never see him again ; but I 

 rejoice in the opportunity of declaring that I shall cherish for him 

 the greatest respect. I venerate his judgment as a sportsman ; I 

 consider him an honour to fox-hunting ; I esteem him as a man ; 

 and I hold him up as a pattern of an English gentleman, m the triie 

 acceptation of that word. I can only add in the words of the Bard, 



" May he live 

 Longer than I have time to tell his years ! " 



It was said of Shakspeare, that he was not to be tried by any 

 code of critic laws ; as much as to say, such a genius as his could 

 " rise to faults critics dare not mend." How then can I presume 

 to pass my feeble judgment on Mr. Ralph Lambton as a huntsman 

 to fox-hounds, knowing, as I do, that his pack is one of the very 

 highest character, and that he has always hunted them himself. 

 Wisdom, says the proverb, is the produce of experience ; and if 

 such men as himself and Lord Darlington have not learned their 

 trade, this maxim does not hold good, for they have served exactly 

 five apprenticeships to the art. It must also be remembered, that 

 the prowess of a huntsman is not confined to the operations of 

 the field. A skilful General is as great in council as he is in action ; 

 and unless a huntsman be clever in his kennel, he does but half 

 what is required of him. He may have sport, for that is often the 

 consequence of fortuitous circumstances— such as country, &c. — 

 and he may kill his foxes ; but he never will have a really good 

 and steady pack of fox-hounds. Combining, however, the duties of 

 the kennel and the field, I am bound to give Mr. Ralph Lambton 



* In this able letter of Pliny to Nepos, he mentions the fact of a man travelling 

 from Cadiz to Rome to see the celebrated historian Livy, and, after satisfying 

 his curiosity, returning home. I only speak my feelings when I declare, that 

 from the character I had heard of Mr. Ralph Lambton, I would have 

 followed the example of the enterprising Spaniard. 



