LETTER V. 



THERE is an active vanity in the minds of men 

 which is favourable to improvement ; and in 

 every pursuit, while something remains to be attained, 

 so long will it afford amusement : you will therefore 

 find pleasure in the breeding of hounds, in which 

 expectation is never completely satisfied ; and it is 

 on the sagacious management of this business that 

 all your success will depend. Is it not extraordinary, 

 that no other country should equal us in this par- 

 ticular, and that the very hounds procured from hence 

 should degenerate in another climate ? 



In thee alone, fair land of liberty ! 



Is bred the perfect hound, in scent and speed 



As yet unrivall'd, while in other climes 



Their virtue fails, a weak degen'rate race. — Somerville. 



Happy climate for sportsmen ! where Nature seems, 

 as it were, to give them an exclusive privilege of 

 enjoying this diversion. To preserve this advantage, 

 however, care should be taken in the breed : I shall, 

 therefore, according to your desire, send you such 

 rules as I observe myself. Consider the size, shape, 

 colour, constitution, and natural disposition, of the 

 dog you breed from, as well as the fineness of his 

 nose, his stoutness, and method of hunting. On no 



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