Chapter IV 



The Rev. Jack Russell, M.F.H., M.O.H.— Where he Wrote his Sermons— An 

 Ancient Powder Cupboard — Some Clergy Defy their Bishops — Parson Jack as 

 a Boy — Gets into Trouble and Out Again — Boxing and Hunting at Cambridge 

 — His Fox-Terrier " Trump " — The King's Admiration of Her — His first Cleri- 

 cal Work — Some Packs of Hounds — He Marries — Mr. Templer of Stover's 

 Hunting Methods — Some Favourite Horses — His Staff — Two Churches and a 

 Curate on £180 a Year — His Friends the Gypsies — A Well-known Story — 

 Virtue Rewarded — Sells his Pack — Introduced to the Prince of Wales — At 

 Sandringham — Pilots the Prince with Stag Hounds — A Soldier's View of the 

 Sporting Parson — Bad Luck at Black Torrington — The Rat-Catcher's Charm 

 — Parson Jack's Boot- Jack — His Frugal Habits — A Pathetic Funeral. 



WHO is there that has not heard of the great sporting 

 parson, the Rev. Jack Russell, one of the most 

 celebrated figures in the west country, and well liked 

 everywhere ? 



It has always surprised me that nowhere have I ever read 

 of, or heard any mention of, his little powder cupboard wherein 

 he wrote his sermons, when in his later years he was rector of 

 Black Torrington. This funny but interesting cupboard was no 

 doubt used many times by Mr. Russell's predecessors, while 

 they sat wrapped in a sheet during the powdering of their wigs 

 for Sunday service, or possibly for a carousal with the squire, 

 maybe for both. I am glad to say when I saw it last, a few 

 years ago, it remained exactly as it stood in Mr. Russell's time, 

 in a big empty room, not let into a wall or seeking its support, 

 but more like a sentry-box, approached up some steps a little 

 to one side of the room, with a door to shut behind the occupier, 

 and a small square window after the fashion of an attic window 

 not intended to open or shut. Out of it could be seen a glimpse 

 of the spare room, and beyond it some greenery viewed through 

 the window of the room. Inside this curious edifice there 

 stands the original sloping sort of schoolboy-desk, rough with 

 old age, much scrubbing, and innocent of any varnish or 

 decoration. Both desk and high stool are attached to the floor. 



The rectory^ has been in recent years more or less repaired 



