390 HUNTING. 



Leicestershire, and made partially known through 

 the medium of a small pamphlet, entitled " The 

 Meynellian Science, or Fox-Hunting upon Sys- 

 tem," by the late John Hawkes, Esq., a personal 

 friend of Mr. MeynelFs. That Mr. Meynell studied 

 fox-hunting as a science, we believe no one will 

 deny ; and that his master-mind was quite equal 

 to the task he imposed upon himself, is also an ad- 

 mitted fact ; for he was a man of more than ordin- 

 ary acuteness, coupled with a close and accurate 

 observation of every thing that passed under his 

 eye ; and all this with the benefit of an education 

 perfected beyond the usual extent of that bestowed 

 upon, or, perhaps we may say, submitted to, by 

 young gentlemen of large fortune in his day, hav- 

 ing studied nearly three years under a private tutor 

 after he became of age. That he shone beyond all 

 others who had preceded him, in the breeding and 

 management of hounds, is a fact universally ad- 

 mitted, producing, as Mr. Hawkes says of them, 

 " the steadiest, best, and handsomest pack of fox- 

 hounds in the kingdom ;"' adding also the emphatic 

 remark, that his object was to combine strength 

 with beauty, and steadiness with high mettle. His 

 idea of perfect shape was, short backs, open bosoms, 

 straight legs, and compact feet ; and the first quali- 

 ties of hounds he considered to be fine noses and 

 stout runners — opinions which all found to hold 

 good. 



But there were peculiarities in Mr. MeynelFs 

 system of hunting, to which, as detailed by Mr. 

 Hawkes, we scarcely know how to reconcile our- 



