BllEEDING THE FOX-HOUND. 337 



racter and appearance that they should bear a close 

 resemblance to each other, and not in their close 

 consanguinity. It is true, the celebrated pack of 

 Mr. Warde, the present Father of the Field, and a 

 master of fox-hounds for the unparalleled period of 

 fifty-seven years, which sold for two thousand 

 guineas, only contained, in 1825, three couples of 

 hounds not of his own blood, and those the produce 

 of one stallion hound, Mr. Assheton Smith's Reu- 

 bens. But we have no proof of Mr. Wardens hounds 

 being better for adhering so closely to his own sort ; 

 on the contrary, it is the opinion, we believe, of the 

 sporting world, reluctantly admitted, in considera- 

 tion of the well-merited celebrity of their owner, 

 that, latterly, the slackness of this renowned pack, 

 unrivalled in fine form, was to be attributed to that 

 circumstance. On the other hand, the rare but 

 valuable combination of dash and nose, a match for 

 the cold and ungenial Oxfordshire hills, for which 

 the Duke of Beaufort's pack has been so long con- 

 spicuous, has been traced to his Grace's late hunts- 

 man, Philip Payne (said by Colonel Cook, in his 

 Observations on Fox -Hunting^ to be " the best judge 

 of breeding hounds in the kingdom,") going from 

 home for his blood, and sending his bitches to the 

 celebrated stallion hounds of the best kennels within 

 his reach. This, however, it must be remembered, 

 is not within the command of every man's purse, 

 the expenses attending sending bitches to a dis- 

 tance, under any circumstances, being heavy ; as 

 not only must they be placed under the care of a 

 trusty servant on their journey, but there are other 

 2f 



