THE NOBLE SCIENCE. 13 



man than the renowned Sebright, now with Lord Fitz- 

 wiUiam, to hunt one of the best packs of hounds ever 

 bred, so great was the transition from the verdant vales 

 of Leicester, to their antipodes in the good county of 

 Southampton, that, although ''the Squire" had good- 

 humouredly threatened the utter extinction of the 

 whole race of Hambledon foxes, each day was but a 

 repetition of '' confusion worse confounded ;" and they 

 very soon abandoned the country, with all the disgust 

 which the proverbial odiousness of comparisons was 

 likely to engender. 



No one will imagine that I can entertain the re- 

 motest idea of casting any reflection upon an establish- 

 ment, the merits of which were beyond the reach of 

 detraction. I have recorded the fact as it stands, only 

 as the strongest proof of my assertion, that a tho- 

 rough knowledge of a country and its peculiarities is 

 indispensable ; and I have not the least doubt that if 

 any of the principal actors in the scene to which I have 

 alluded were questioned as to what they did in the 

 Hambledon country, the answer would be " Nothing ;" 

 that they found themselves truly dislocated, in a strange 

 locality, and were all abroad. Whether they ivould 

 have done nothing had they remained is quite another 

 question ; my belief is that such a pack would have 

 maintained its superiority in any country; though I 

 still hold to my opinion, that a hound which may be 

 perfect in one country, may be utterly useless in an- 



