IN PRAISE OF FOXHUNTING. 1 03 



I indulge in an oath. But as for foxhunting-, I will 

 ever maintain the blessings it confers on a country are 

 great and numerous. It encourages bravery, courage, 

 and enterprise in a people ; and, above all things, it pro- 

 motes kind feeling and good-fellowship. Whigs, Tories, 

 and Radicals may look darkly and sulkily at each other, 

 when they meet in the street, but the moment that the 

 fox has burst cover, ill-will is forgotten, and mutual 

 animosities are flung to the wind. It would be difficult 

 to find in any country a better man than our chairman, 

 and yet where will y(ju find a man who has a more 

 enthusiastic admiration of foxhuntino: .'' He thinks with 

 me, that foxhunting is not only a very delightful, but also 

 very honourable and useful amusement for the nation at 

 large. In support ot that opinion we have the authority 

 of as great a man as the Duke of Wellington himself, who 

 is reported to have said, " Give me a foxhunter, because 

 he knows the line of a country, and makes the best 

 officer I can have under my command." A genuine fox- 

 hunter of the right sort, who is determined to get 

 over the country, and who has a good eye, a strong 

 hand, a clear head, and a firm heart, makes one of 

 the best officers that ever wore a sword ; and that this is 

 true, I will appeal to the hero of Waterloo against the 



