28 THE NOBLE SCIENCE. 



altogether, it has been proDounced by the oldest mas- 

 ters of hounds, and other liigh authorities, as a run 

 which will scarcely find its parallel in the records of 

 any country. It is a matter of congratulation to my- 

 self, and I hope, also, to all interested in the well-being 

 of that pack, which, as long as I have a spark of ambi- 

 tion left within me, shall be nulli secundus, that Baneful 

 and Ritual are both of them now only in their fifth 

 year, and that their descendants give fair promise of 

 bearing evidence of their stamp. The former has, at 

 this moment, by her side, a most beautiful litter by 

 the Duke of Beaufort's Rally wood. 



I trust that I may be pardoned the semblance of 

 egotistical vanity with which I have thus descanted 

 upon these things affecting my own affairs. All have 

 their hobby, from which, when once bestridden, they do 

 not readily dismount ; and any one who can enter into 

 the sort of parental feeling toward a pack of hounds by 

 which I am animated, will excuse a certain degree of 

 pride with which I may reflect upon my endeavours at 

 improvement, especially when I start with the admis- 

 sion of luck beyond all power of judgment, in the draft 

 obtained from Berkeley Castle. 



What I have said concerning the excellence of this 

 blood, and the tribute which I have paid to Mr. Berkeley 

 as a master of hounds, requires neither excuse nor apo- 

 logy. I shall ever speak of things as I find them, and 

 am inclined to swear by the bridge which carries me 

 safe over. To proceed now with our consideration of 



