At the Alexandra Palace Show held in 1880 Mr. Woolmore brought out Crown Prince, a Mastiff about which there has been more discussion than probably any other. It was thought by many that his Dudley nose and light eyes would throw him out of competition, but the Rev. W. J. Mellor, who was the judge, decided otherwise, and awarded him premier honours in the puppy class, and afterwards endorsed his opinion by purchasing the dog, although he did not retain him long in his possession. No sooner was the dog seen than the correctness of his pedigree on his sire's side was questioned, some expressing their opinion that instead of being a son of Young Prince, his reputed sire, there could be little doubt that he was a son of The Shah, whilst others were equally decided in their opinion that no other dog than The Emperor could be his sire. It should be mentioned that all these three dogs, Young Prince, The Shah, and The Emperor, although the property of different owners, were at the time under the charge of the same man.

Fig. 19. - The Mastiff Minting, owned by E. H. 1 Moore, Melrose, Mass., winner of American Mastiff Club's Challenge Cup, etc.

So long as the question was confined to expressions of opinion only, no steps could be taken to attempt to clear the matter up; but as soon as a public statement was made that direct evidence was forthcoming that The Emperor was the sire and that the breeder of Crown Prince was cognisant of the fact, the Committee of the Old English Mastiff Club felt that the time had arrived when something should be done to clear up the question whether The Emperor was really the sire of this dog. All who were in any way interested in the matter were invited to give evidence before the Committee. After a long and exhaustive enquiry, which extended over many meetings, the Committee came to the conclusion that Mr. Woolmore fully believed that Young Prince was the sire of Crown Prince, and that sufficient evidence had not been brought forward to show that the registered pedigree of this dog was incorrect. This decision was adversely criticised at the time, more especially by Mr. Dalziel, and by Mr. Evans, who had purchased The Emperor, but no disinterested person who was present at the investigation and heard the evidence could have come to any other conclusion.

Crown Prince was extensively used at stud, the result being that many of his faults became apparent in the breed. Light eyes, which are so objectionable in a Mastiff, were commonly to be met with, and the bad hindquarters, from which so many of our Mastiffs suffer, are in most cases traceable to the indiscriminate use of this dog. The Dudley nose appears from time to time in litters of Mastiffs, but breeders have been wise enough to destroy the puppies possessing this fault.

Mr. Beaufoy's Beau (6,356) was not a great success at stud until his show days were drawing to a close, when, among other good Mastiffs, he got Beaufort, the best all-round Mastiff that has been seen for many years, and Cambrian Princess, another grand specimen of the breed, the dam of Minting (Fig. 19). Beaufort (18,504) was bred by Mr. Sidney Turner, who has bred many good Mastiffs, and was purchased from him by the writer. This dog, for which an offer of £400 was refused, had a most successful career as a show dog and at stud in both this country and America. Minting was bred by Mrs. Willins by Maximilian, a son of The Emperor. Unfortunately for the breed in this country, he was purchased by Mr. E. H. Moore, of Melrose, Mass., U.S.A., for whom he won numerous prizes. Minting died a short time before the arrival of Beaufort in America, otherwise the meeting of these two famous Mastiffs would have been very interesting.

There are few dogs that have done more good for the breed than the brindle Cardinal (8,410). He became the property of the writer at a time when Mastiffs of this colour were very scarce, the colour being at that time by no means a popular one. He was not, therefore, used at stud so much as he should have been; but it is a fact worthy of note that most of the winning Mastiffs of the past few years have been brindles, all of which trace their pedigrees back to this dog. Before attempting to breed Mastiffs, the breeder should have a clear and definite idea as to what he wishes to breed, and having made up his mind upon this point, he must devote all his energies to attain what he desires. If his aim is to breed a dog exceptionally good in one particular point, he will find his task a far easier one than to breed a dog good all round; but if he gains his end he will probably be disappointed in the result, as the dog may possibly be so bad in other points as to be a constant eyesore to its owner. Unfortunately, there appears to be an impression among some who attempt to breed Mastiffs that if they devote all their attention to obtaining one quality, they can, when they have obtained this, turn their attention to other points, and in this way they will in course of time succeed in producing a perfect animal. There is not a greater mistake in Mastiff breeding. A breeder cannot afford to ignore the smallest detail, and he should ever bear in mind that if he once allows a fault to be perpetuated, it may take him many years to eradicate it, even if he is so fortunate as to do so at last. If a few of those who have been breeding Mastiffs within the last ten or twenty years had displayed the same amount of enthusiasm in endeavouring to breed dogs with as few faults as possible as they have shown in their attempts to produce a dog excelling in one or two particular points, they would have done more good, and there would be a larger number of better Mastiffs than at present.

In selecting the brood bitch, her pedigree is a matter of the first importance, for unless this is known the breeder cannot tell how she should be mated. She should not be bred from until she has attained the age of about fifteen months. Length of body and width across the loins are essential points to be looked for. Ascertain, if possible, whether any faults that are apparent in her - such, for instance, as bad legs and feet - are the result of bad rearing or are hereditary. If the bitch is deficient in size, her pedigree should be carefully examined in order to make sure whether she comes from a strain of small Mastiffs or whether her ancestors were animals of average size. It does not necessarily follow that a small bitch will not throw large puppies; so much depends upon her breeding. The dam of Mr. Green's Monarch (2,316) was very small, but Monarch was a very large dog, standing over 33m., and many of his progeny were also dogs of unusual size. Should the bitch be light in colour, a cross with a dark brindle dog is desirable. Puppies, one of the parents of which is a fawn and the other a brindle, are generally distinctly of one colour or the other.