THE FOXHOUND. 59 



will not suffer themselves to be disgraced in any country. Somer- 

 ville I find is of the same opinion : 



' But here a mean 



Observe, nor a large hound prefer, of size 

 Gigantic ; he, in the thick-woven covert, 

 Painfully tugs, or in the thorny brake, 

 Torn and embarra&s'd, bleeds : but, if too small, 

 The pigmy brood in every furrow swims ; 

 Moil'd in the clogging clay, panting, they lag 

 Behind inglorious; or else shivering creep, 

 Benumb'd and faint, beneath the sheltering thorn. 

 Foxhounds of middle size, active and strong, 

 Will better answer all thy various ends, 

 And crown thy pleasing labors with success.' 



I perfectly agree with you that to look well they should be all 

 nearly of a size ; and I even think that they should all look of the 

 same family, 



' Facies non omnibus una, 

 Nee diversa tamen, qualem decet esse sororum." 



" If handsome without they are then perfect. With regard to 

 their being sizeable, what Somerville says, is so much in your own 

 way that I shall send it you : 



* As some brave captain, curious and exact, 

 By his flx'd standard, forms in equal ranks 

 His gay battalion : as one man they move, 

 Step after step ; their size the same, their arms, 

 Far gleaming, dart the same united blaze ; 

 Reviewing generals his merit own ; 

 How regular ! how just ! And all his cares 

 Are well repaid if mighty GEORGE approve : 

 So model thou thy pack, if honor touch 

 Thy gen'rous soul, and the world's just applause.' 



" There are necessary points in the shape of a hound which 

 ought always to be attended to by a sportsman, for if he be not of 

 a perfect symmetry, he will neither run fast nor bear much work 

 He has much to undergo, and should have strength proportioned 



