284 NIMROD'S HUXTIXG TOUR 



said about that. Comparisons, I repeat, are odious : therefore I 

 neither compare him with this man nor with tliat ; but I hope it will 

 not be long before I see the justly -celebrated Tom Sebright — who l)y 

 all accounts is a charming fellow in the held — partaking of all the 

 animation and keenness of his preceptor, Mr. Musters, with, as I 

 understand, a great share of the " instinctive knowledge of the 

 habits of a fox." 



In the life of Somervile, there is a strange expression from the 

 pen of the author — the great Dr. Johnson. " He writes," says he, 

 ''very weU for a gentleman.'" Now I own I do not exactly com- 

 prehend the Doctor's meaning ; for what avails an expensive 

 education unless it sometimes turns to a good account, particularly 

 as relates to the cultivation of the mind? But I once asked a very 

 eminent sportsman what was his opinion of gentlemen huntsmen ? 

 and he gave it as follows: — "If gentlemen," said he, "have been 

 amongst hounds from their infancy, and will, when they take the 

 management of them, give up their time and attention to them, the 

 same as a common man who is uneducated, there can be no doubt 

 which of the two will make the best huntsman ; but the fact is, 

 most gentlemen who hunt hounds have not been sufficiently amongst 

 them till they arrive at a certain time of life, when other pursuits 

 and avocations present themselves, and then they do not like all 

 the drudgery of the office. For these reasons, and for these alone, 

 we see but few good gentlemen huntsmen." 



Were I to be asked my opinion of the Sedgefield country, I 

 should almost be inclined to place it at the head of the provincials. 

 It is flat ; the fields are of a very fair size, a great portion of them 

 between twenty and forty acres, and a good deal of very old sward ; 

 it abounds in whin coverts — indeed I saw scarcely anything else ; 

 and the fences for the most part are practicable. To South country 

 horses they may be a little awkward, as for the most part they are 

 placed upon banks, and the V stiles are frequent. It is also con- 

 sidered a good scenting country, as most countries in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the sea '■'■ are ; and it must be favourable to hounds, as 

 there are no large coverts in which they can run riot. Thus Mr. 



* The sea is not more than ten miles from the kennel at Sedgefield as the 

 crow would fly. 



