—are the well-known objects of SPORTING ATTRACTION from one extremity of the kingdom to another; possessing within themselves a fascinating power, or exhilarating property, to which all liberal minds, of congenial sensibility, become imperceptibly and irresistibly subdued; forming that kind of inexplicable temptation, that indescribable vibration of pleasure upon human irritability, that none but those of the most stoical apathy, the greatest mental fortitude, or personal self-denial, can summon sufficient resolution to avoid.

The great variety of hounds with which the country formerly abounded, seem now, by the judicious crosses of succeeding generations, to have been principally reduced to a much more contracted point of view, and center entirely in the denomination of STAG hounds, FOX hounds, HARRIERS, and BEAGLES; each of the four being a degree less in size than the other, with such variations in strength, speed, colour, and tongue, as may have been adopted by the judgment or fancy of the BREEDER. We have been taught, by a maxim of long standing, to believe, "there is no rule without an exception." An author of much celebrity, however, in respect to the breeding of hounds, pays due respect to rule, but does not advert to exception. It is his opinion, "that there are necessary points in the shape of a hound, which ought always to be attended to; 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 to it. Let his legs be straight as arrows; his feet round, and not too large; his shoulders back; his breast rather wide than narrow; his chest deep; his back broad; his head small; his neck thin; his tail thick and brushy; if he carry it well, so much the better."

Without animadverting upon the SIZE of any particular kind of hound, as applicable to any particular sort of chase, or to any particular kind of country, but with a view to the aggregate in a general sense, there are, as in all other matters of FANCY, FASHION, or CAPRICE, a variety of opinions. Some there are who profess themselves strenuous advocates for what they term the "busy bustlers," or small hounds, upon a plea, that they are always at work, lose no time, climb hills fast enough for any horse, and get through coverts quicker than any other. Sportsmen of a bolder description are equally strenuous, and perhaps with a greater shew of reason, in the support of large hounds, justly affirming, they will make their way in any country, get better through the dirt than a small one; and that their pursuit can be but little obstructed by whatever fence may present itself in the course of the chase.

Mr. Beckford, whose opinion, and perfect practical knowledge of the subject, has been implicitly bowed to, and acquiesced in, by the best and most experienced judges in the kingdom, has given a decided preference to "hounds of a MIDDLE SIZE;" saying, "he believes all animals of that description are the strongest and best able to bear fatigue;" in corroboration of which he quotes from Somerville, as would have been also done in this place, in confirmation of the same opinion.

Next to the consideration of SIZE and SYMMETRY (whatever that may be) should follow a corresponding uniformity of the whole. A pack, to be handsome, should vary little or none in height, and have a pleasing affinity to each other in colour: to be good, they should run well together; and the unison of their musical tongues should constitute a perfect harmony, without a single note of discord. It is well known, that it is not always the lot of the most complete and best selected packs to kill in proportion to their seeming excellence; some are very much superior in qualifications to what they may promise to a stranger at first view; for though of various sizes, and picked up in different counties, (as well as from the hammer,) without the least appearance of consanguinity, or one distinguishing trait of attraction, yet they seldom miss their game. Mr. Beckford mentions a pack of this description who killed twenty-nine foxes without intermission; that when they were running, there was a long string of them, and every fault was hit off by an old SOUTHERN HOUND. When sufficient time has been employed in forming a pack of hounds, they can never be considered in a state of excellence or superiority, unless they go as if they were in harness; that is, when they are running breast high, they should run nearly all a breast; or, in other words, when clear of covert, and crossing a country, the body might nearly be covered with a sheet.

Nothing is a greater disgrace to the MASTER, the HUNTSMAN, or the pack, than to see a parcel of straggling tail hounds, labouring in vain; except a leading hound loaded with a leaden necklace, to restrain his speed, and depress the instinctive impulse of his nature to a level with those who are not his equals. This is a truly unsportsman-like stretch of authority, bordering upon cruelty; and would be much more "honored in the breach than the observance." Hounds of either description had better be parted with, than to encounter constantly a mortification so easily to be removed; and both will be the less likely to happen, the more moderate the number taken to the field. The taking out too many hounds is a frequent error in judgment, always productive of trouble, and sometimes to a most vexatious diminution of sport, to the incessant employment of the whipper-in, whose horse is the greatest sufferer upon the occasion.

Hounds differ much in their properties, according to the crosses in blood, and this is plainly perceptible to a nice observer, as well in their endeavours to find, as in the pursuit of their game; for those retaining most of the southern hound in their blood, are always the most constitutionally tardy in action. The north country beagle, (now called harrier,) with a cross of the DWARF FOX HOUND, has produced a direct contrast to the former, and are generally in use in those open countries where horses can lay by the side of them. The delight of the old southern hound is to dwell upon the scent; the extatic eagerness of the latter is to press it before him. When the former come to a fault, and can carry the scent no farther, they stick their noses to the ground as close together as a swarm of bees, making few or no efforts of their own, unless lifted along by the helping hand and encouraging voice of the HUNTSMAN. The exertions of the latter are instantaneous and indefatigable; they make their cast in different directions, without a moment's pause, and every individual pants with emulation to become the happy instrument of recovery: once hit off, the general struggle for pre-eminence constitutes a scene by far too luxurious for the inadequate representation of literary description.

Opposite as these chases are, they are not without their distinct and different votaries: the tempers of some men, and the age or infirmities of others, render their minds as gloomy as the atmosphere of the winter's day in which they HUNT; to these the solemn knell of the SOUTHERN HOUND is so musically mechanical, that it seems to vibrate in unison with the somniferous melancholy of their own sensations. But with those in the health and pride of manhood, who enjoy the obstacles, and surmount the difficulties, of CROSSING a COUNTRY, in direct contrast to the ruminative pleasure of whipping a thistle, or riding a few rings round a barn, fleet hounds will always have the preference. Hounds of this description, it must be candidly confessed, are, however, drawn too fine in their formation, and so critically refined to speed, that the game, whatever it may be, can stand but a little time before them: unless, from stormy weather, or some other accidental cause, much cold hunting should intervene. And this, in the present rage for improvement, is so much the case with HARRIERS in general, that, in the early part of the season, half the hares found are run up to in the first view; and even after Christmas, when they are supposed to get strong; average chases do not exceed from twenty minutes to half an hour; and by the unprecedented speed of hounds, as they are now bred, the fox chase is contracted in proportion.

Although the breeding, entering, feeding, airing, and general management of hounds, is an entire system, dependent upon personal practice, from a strict and attentive attachment to which alone, excellence can be derived; yet, such rules and salutary regulations as stand high in sporting estimation, may be introduced for the information of those, who, in the infancy of initiation, are anxious to improve their judgment, by blending the theory of the closet with the practice of the field. The spring months are the best in which puppies can be produced; they have then the whole summer to expand and grow in. Some circumspection is necessary in the business of propagation, to prevent an unnecessary destruction; attention should be paid to shape, size, colour, disposition, and qualification, of both the dog and bitch intended to breed from; if the perfection of sire or dam are wished, or expected, to be retained, and displayed, in the offspring. The sporting world are enjoined by the best authority, "on no account to breed from one that is not stout, that is not tender nosed, or that is either a babbler or a skirter: it is the judicious cross that makes the pack complete. The faults and imperfections in one breed, may be rectified in another; and if this be properly attended to, no reason can be suggested, why the breeding of hounds may not improve, till improvement can go no further."