28 KEMINISCENCES, ETC. 



putting a point of wliipcord to his thong, having a large 

 open clasp knife between, his teeth at the time." * 



The following quotation from the same high authority 

 respecting another feature in Mr. Smith's mastership of the 

 Quorn will not be unacceptable. " Every person, who has 

 been in Leicestershire knows the necessity of having good 

 command over the field, a very serious and often hazardous 

 duty devolving on the master of the pack. Here Mr. Smith 

 was also successful. He set out by declaring that he was 

 not the best-tempered man in the world ; and he hoped, if 

 at any time he said what might be deemed harsh to his 

 brother-sportsmen, they would attribute it to his zeal to 

 show sport, and not to an intention to give oflfence. We 

 have the pleasure of stating then, that, with one or two 

 exceptions, producing no serious results, he passed through 

 his fiery ordeal, continued for the number of seasons I have 

 mentioned, and quitted his proud station as master and 

 huntsman of the Quorn hounds in (1816), esteemed as a 

 sportsman and valued as a man. There may be some who 

 may tell me his language was sometimes coarser than 

 occasion could justify, and it is not for me to decide the 

 point. All I will say is, his language was never that of a 

 bully, for a braver man never stepped on the earth, nor one 

 who displayed in clearer colours the thorough courage of a 

 true-bred Briton. Indeed, I may ask with the poet — 



'Is there the man into the lion's den 

 Who dares intrude to snatch his young away ? ' 



and answer, ' Thomas Assheton Smith is he ! ' " 



Nor was the renown thus acquired by this eminent fox- 

 hunter obtained in an age of few first-rate riders, or 



* "Hunting Reminiscences," p. 297. Jack Shirley accompanied his 

 master into Lincolnshire. Mr. Smith used frequently to amuse his 

 field, when the hounds were running "slow," by calling up Jack, who 

 was a great favourite, to lore a hole in an impenetrable bullfinch. 

 Many a pint of blood did he lose in this service. 



