IT is rather singular to observe but worthy of 

 remark by the Sporting World that, till Mr. 

 Beckford's book appeared, no work on the subject 

 of Hunting had been published, except an anonymous 

 publication, in 1733, entitled An Essay on Hunting? 

 This latter work displays much good sense and 

 practical knowledge : it has been reprinted with 



great success. 



The biography of the Author of Letters on Hunting 

 might be said to be multum in parvo. But, short 

 as it may be, it is entitled to our notice. Peter 

 Beckford, Esq., of Stapleton, in Dorsetshire, died 

 at the age of seventy years. As a gentleman hunter, 

 not a stanch er one was to be found in his whole 

 county. His judgment in the choice of hounds, and 

 the skill he displayed in the management of his 

 establishment, claimed the praise of all those persons 

 who witnessed it. In his selection of horses, and 

 all other animals, his judgment was considered equally 

 conspicuous. In the character of an Author, his 



I 1 A very interesting little work ; but the author is evidently only a hare- 

 hunter. The chapter on the various sorts of hounds and their different 

 peculiarities is worth reading.] 



