58 REMINISCENCES, ETC. 



and, to his vexatiou, made the passage easy for the tough 

 man of hides, who was soon cnce more at his side, and wag 

 not destined to receive his tanning at all events that time. 



There was another strong reason why horses and hounds 

 became so docile and tractable with Mr. Smith, and that 

 was his just treatment of them, which brutes are sensible 

 enough to comprehend and appreciate. It is a fact well 

 recorded, that he was never known to strike a horse or 

 hound unfairly or to lose his temper with them. " How is 

 it," asked a friend, " that horses and hounds never seem to 

 provoke you V " They are brutes and know no better, but 

 men do," was the pithy reply. He used to say that horses 

 had far more sense than dogs. There is another fact which 

 Mr. Smith himself used to mention with no common pride. 

 Notwithstanding the gallant manner in which he always 

 rode — never turning from any fence that interfered be- 

 tween him and his hounds — he never had a horse drop 

 dead under him, or die from the effects of a severe day's 

 riding. This was a boast which no other master of hounds 

 could make, who had ever hunted half as long, or ridden 

 half as hard, as the squire of Tedworth. Nevertheless, the 

 boast must be qualified by the circumstance, that it is not 

 every fox-hunter or master of hounds who could afford a 

 fresh horse as frequently as Mr. Smitli. 



We are reminded by the mention of the name of the late 

 Lord George Bentinck, that this respected nobleman lived 

 on terms of intimate friendship with Mr. Assheton Smith, 

 by whom he was much admired for his high character, his 

 manly bearing, and his unswerving rectitude in matters 

 connected with the turf By his influence the squire was 

 persuaded to have some brood mares at Tedworth, and for a 

 short time to be a member of the Jockey Club. Mr. Smith, 

 however, soon declined this new pursuit ; he loved the 

 straightforward honesty of a fox-hunt, but observed that the 

 chicanery of racing was ungenial to him. Nevertheless he 

 once actually rode and won a race. This was on the Win- 



