12 THE NOBLE SCIENCE. 



that zeal and energy which he should supply. He 

 will, under failure of scent, or any of the catalogue of 

 miseries to which he is exposed, even to the heading of 

 a fox, patiently, if not cheerfully, submit to evils which 

 he cannot surmount; and should all go right, and 

 " merry as a marriage bell," who, in the whole of that 

 well-pleased field, will have half the excitement, the 

 exultation, the delight, which he will find in this joyous 

 result of all his hopes and endeavours ? 



To return to my position, that with the best estab- 

 lishments which money can produce, a man may fail — 

 may fail in shewing that sport which will stamp the 

 character of his pack ;— for justice, bhnd justice, is very 

 blind indeed in this respect, and will take success as the 

 sole criterion of merit. I have said that it is not enough 

 to bring into the field men, hounds, and horses, of the 

 best pretensions ; I repeat, that it is not enough, unless 

 all are pre-eminently qualified for the particular country 

 in which their lot may be cast ; unless the servants 

 possess, in addition to every professional qualification, 

 that intimate knowledge of all localities which is indis- 

 pensable, and not less so to the master, if he assume, as 

 he should do, the absolute command ; unless much, very 

 much, have been done in the time of preparation w^hich 

 cannot be done during the season, which is as the har- 

 vest of the months of promise which have preceded it. 

 As one striking instance, in support of what I have thus 



