HUNTERS. 327 



and ha mane observer) appear so many in- 

 controvertible proofs of his ignorance or in- 

 discretion. These heroes on horseback 

 require to be emphatically informed, that 

 such voluntary acts of oppression invariably 

 operate to the prejudice of the performer, 

 however he may be sanctioned by situation 

 or favoured by fortune, proving unluckily 

 abortive of the original design ; for what is 

 so evidently intended to promote admiration 

 is as certainly productive of indifference and 

 contempt. 



Another act of folly and indiscretion is 

 equally calci dated to excite the disgust and 

 indignation of every established sportsman in 

 the field ; that ridiculous vanity of trj^ing 

 the speed and oppressing the spirit of your 

 horse, in racing with every sympathetic 

 competitor ; and it would be very extraor- 

 dinary in so numerous a company, if one 

 fool was long deprived of the pleasure of 

 finding a companion. At the conclusion qf 

 the chase, whether the death of a fox or 

 the taking of the deer, numerous temp- 

 tations present themselves to the young and 

 inexperienced sportsman, even in the infancy 



