these hounds hunt and run; they have so much dash about them, and they work a low scent quick, which is the perfection of a foxhound. Mr. Deacon deserves the greatest credit for bringing the H. H. hounds to this state of perfection; their value has quite doubled since he has had them. He has a good deal of Lord Portsmouth's blood in his kennel, and no better sort than his Lordship's are to be found. There is a bitch called Necklace, by Lord Portsmouth's Nestor out of his Hemlock, the very perfection of a foxhound; if Cecil' was to see her he would go down upon his knees to her, after the manner the Doctor' (there is but one doctor in the world, and that is Dr. Shorthouse) says he should like to do to King John. The Hambledon have done nothing extraordinary this month; but they have had some quick bursts. There was a very satisfactory meeting of the Members of the Hunt on Friday, the 19th, when Colonel Bower was requested to take the management of the hounds for another season without a dissentient voice, which the gallant Colonel kindly consented to do. He has not as yet engaged another huntsman, but he is anxious to get one. There are some good old foxes in the country which will show some good sport, and the Colonel, whose heart is in the cause, will do his best to promote it. Mr. Dear's harriers still continue their unvaried sport, running a hare six miles straight on end without a check, and killing her in good style. We hear that the Cheshire hounds have had some fair runs, of which we give a summary. On February 5th they experienced a good gallop of 55 min. from Calvely Gorse, and killed him. February 6th.—42 min. without a check from Courts Gorse, and a kill. February 8th.-After drawing blank all day, found a capital fox in Mr. Marshall's Gorse at 4·20, and had a capital thing of 40 min. without a check, and lost him in the kitchen garden at Toft. February 9th.-Found first fox in Waverton Gorse; hounds ran him some time in covert; he then broke, and was turned up in 13 min. Had a capital 18 min. to ground with the second fox. A third fox, which jumped up out of a hedgerow, gave us a good hunting run, and was eventually lost at Oulton Park. February 12th.-A very good 30 min., without a check, from Grooby Gorse. February 16th.-A nice hunting run from Mere to ground in a drain near Knutsford. A very good scenting season up to the present time. Foxes are now laying out a good deal, consequently not easily found. The subscription list for the testimonial to Captain Thomson is now open at the Bank at Northampton, and we have been told that there will not be a hunting farmer in the county who will not subscribe, as there never was a Master of the Pytchley more generally popular with the farmers; and we think that we may safely venture to predict that Captain Thomson's proper value as a sportsman will only be generally understood and duly appreciated when his connection with the Pytchley country as Master has ceased. We know that petitions, signed by a large number of leading farmers, have been presented to him, begging him to reconsider his decision, and praying him to remain in Northamptonshire; but, alas! the petitioners will ever pray. Great changes have taken place since the days that Mr. Osbaldeston and Mr. George Payne hunted this country. Then, special trains did not bring crowds of hard-riding gentlemen, and even ladies from Leamington, and galloping cornets from Coventry and Weedon, and these old sportsmen then could hunt their hounds, and tolerably well keep the field in order. But now tempora mutantur, and it is one man's place to try and hunt the hounds, and two men's to keep back the gallopers. Many of these gentlemen never know and never care if the hounds are on the line of a fox, so that they are always galloping and larking, or whether they are chasing a fox, a hare, a rat, a rabbit, or a red-herring. It is all the same. What's the odds,' they say, so long as they are jolly? That is very often now the order of a Pytchley Wednesday. The Rugby Hunt Steeple Chases are to be held on the 7th and 8th, and the card promises some very good sport. The subscriptions towards the farmers' races have been more than usually liberal; but we must here observe, that there are one or two cases of well-known galloping gentlemen who decline to subscribe anything, on the ground that they themselves disapprove of steeple-chasing; but they should remember that it is not a question of their own individual enjoyment, but it is a slight compensation to the farmers for allowing them to gallop over their land and to smash their fences, and also to make a jolly day's outing to their wives and daughters; and we further think, that supposing that the main body of the farmers should elect to have for their entertainment either a bull-fight, or even that tamest of all pastimes, a croquetparty, that these galloping gentlemen ought equally to contribute. The North Warwickshire lose Mr. Milne at the end of the season. His resignation is a great loss to the country; but it is rumoured, and hoped, that he may be succeeded by Mr. Arthur Whieldon, for some years Master of the Vine, a gentleman who thoroughly understands both hounds and hunting, and who, from his agreeable manner with all classes, would be sure to be a good successor to Mr. Milne. Several packs of hounds will shortly be in the market, so that Masters may have a good opportunity of re-stocking their kennels, for Mr. Arkwright's hounds, as well as Mr. Mariott's and the Vale of White Horse, will shortly come under Mr. Tattersall's hammer. But Mr. Harvey Baily goes on with the Rufford for another season, the requisition to him being so very strong to continue that he could not resist it. And Mr. Cox has bought Mr. Scratton's hounds for the country. Our Obituary List is rather a long one, comprising in its catalogue all sorts and conditions of men, who are well known to our readers, and of whom we will now give a brief account. The Marquis of Anglesea, being first in rank, must naturally have due precedency awarded to him. Like his father, whose picture was taken in the act of killing a partridge while on the back of his shooting pony, he always had a few horses in training. To shooting he was very partial, and was seen to great advantage in the Beaudesert preserves. At cricket, also, he was a distinguished patron, and was a constant habitué of Lord's when any great matches were being played. The Sporting Papers, having done us the honour to copy so extensively our memoir of the gallant Marquis, it is not necessary for us to say more about him now, for a more truehearted, unaffected, and popular nobleman rarely existed, and his loss will long be mourned by his friends. Mr. Stephenson, who ended his exciting life by his own hand, was a hardworking, industrious man, whose position shows of what a strange type the Republic of the Turf is composed. Originally a helper in Sir Clifford Constable's stables, he rose to be the leader of the English Ring, sought after by dukes and marquises; and he made or marred favourites by his pencil in a minute. He was, perhaps, the most excitable man in the English Ring; and we have seen, while a great race has been running, the veins in his face swell almost to the size of leaden pipes; and so faint was he, after a day's racing was over, that he very frequently could not speak beyond a whisper. The first book which he made was, like that of Jackson's, a silver one; and the first sum of money he is stated to have won was in Nancy's year, for the Chester Cup, the owner of which, Mr. Barber, was a great friend of his, who gave him the office' about her. Rough and ready as was his conduct, and eccentric his behaviour, it may now be traced to symptoms of that disease which was hereditary in his family on his mother's side, which ultimately brought him to such an untimely end. Of money he had plenty, for it was proved he had upwards of 3000l. in the house at the time of his decease. And it is singular that his mind, which could bear the excitement of a great race, on which he stood many thousands, was unequal to the annoyance caused by an underground railway. In private life he was charitable and welldisposed, and there is no doubt he will be much missed by his friends. By his death many Derby books are fearfully disarranged, for he betted largely against Pero Gomez and Wild Oats, and had the worst of the betting in each instance. The above deaths, together with those of Sir John Johnstone, Captain Wardlaw, and The Emperor,' will make the present February one of the most fatal months to Sportsmen that has been known for many years. London gossip is very limited in its extent this month, but we hear that very grave accounts have been lately received from Eaton Hall and Hawkhead, relative to the health of the Marquis of Westminster and Lord Glasgow, both of whom are reported to be in a most precarious state; and when we lose them, we fear their places will not easily be refilled. Commission agents are now becoming as numerous as army agents, and are nearly quite as respectable and wealthy. Among the latest additions to their number, we perceive, is Mr. Henry Morris, who has long been known on the Turf, both of England and France, and who possesses many special advantages for the business he undertakes to perform. We suppose that there is not a more racing family in England than the Morrises, who are to be found on every civilized race-course in the world; and if we went to Hong Kong, or saw the Nova Zembla Derby run for, we should fully expect having the odds offered to us by one of Les Frères Morris. Mr. J. B. Morris has long been looked on as the paterfamilias of the Ring; and at every hotel that he enters with his division, the state-bed and the president's chair are always reserved for him, while he is the arbiter elegantiarum of all the disputes which arise in the Ring; and from his judgment there is no appeal. Under such auspices, therefore, and under his superintending eye the business is sure to be conducted in a proper style. We have been earnestly requested to give a most distinct denial to a report that has got into circulation, that Mr. Robert Browning's charming poem of The Ring and the Book' is founded on the recollections of any member of Tattersall's or the Victoria Club. Mr. Chaplin's stud will be disposed of on the 22nd inst., and a happier moment for securing a large attendance could not have been selected. We are glad to hear, however, that the honourable Member for Lincolnshire does not retire altogether from the Turf, but still retains three or four animals for his amusement. Among the notabilia of the season are the Cavendish whist-marker,' designed to obviate the necessity of using loose counters, the counters being concealed in a small tablet, and pushed out when required, also the Pocket 'Guide to Bézique, by Cavendish,' which contains a clear description of the game, so that those previously unacquainted with it can play the game without personal instruction. Both can be recommended as useful and elegant additions to the card-table. |