LETTER IX. 95 



nels, some years ago, so thoroughly noisy, that, although 

 they were fine good-looking hounds, and in appearance 

 what foxhounds ought to be, yet I was obliged to draft 

 the whole of them for this cause. The first day I took 

 them out cub hunting, some began throwing their 

 tongues as soon as they entered the covert, where there 

 was no game of any kind ; these I put away at once, 

 and the rest followed. 



I had, however, great luck on other occasions. From 

 Lord Fitzwilliam's kennels, Seabright sent me one sea- 

 son four unentered hounds, three of which turned out 

 excellent, and I bred from them all, the produce being 

 not only clever but as good hounds in their work as any 

 man ever possessed. Two of these hounds from Lord 

 Fitzwilliam's became very great favourites, and never 

 left my kennel. In many large establishments the 

 breeding system is carried on to a very injurious extent, 

 and there is little cause to wonder at young hounds 

 proving faulty, when the characters of their parents 

 have never been fully ascertained. 



Beckford justly remarks, " That too large a body of 

 hounds is a very useless incumbrance" — it is not only a 

 very useless and expensive incumbrance, but the hounds 

 cannot be sufficiently worked to prove any excellences 

 they may possess. It is said that great talents are 

 called forth by great occasions. Many hounds are sel- 

 dom tried sufficiently to prove their real characters, 

 before they are bred from, if good-looking, and in the 

 present day good looks are often taken in lieu of, or as 

 an acknowledgment of, good deeds. 



I think I have before remarked that hounds should 

 never be used before they have passed through two 



