194 THE HOESE AND HIS EIDEE. 



his countenance, but before the doctors or even his valet 

 could be summoned, — with a gentle sigh expired Thomas 

 Assheton Smith, bequeathing, on half a sheet of writing- 

 paper, the whole of his vast possessions, producing from 

 50,000?. to 55,000?. a year, to his widow (who survived 

 him only a few months) ; and moreover leaving behind 

 him a name that will long be remembered not only by the 

 farmers and riding men of the counties he hunted, but 

 by all who are disposed fairly and justly to appreciate the 

 lights and shadows which constitute the character of 

 " The English Country Gentleman," one only of whose 

 recreations we have endeavoured to delineate to our 

 readers in the foregoing slight sketches of those three 

 gallant animals — the Horse, the Fox, and last, though 

 not least, the Foxhunter. 



