LETTER XXIII. 



To the same. 



SELBORNE, June 8/4 1775. 



EAR SIR, On September 2ist, 1741, being then 

 on a visit, and intent on field-diversions, I rose 

 before daybreak : when I came into the enclosures, 

 I found the stubbles and clover-grounds matted 

 all over with a thick coat of cobweb, in the 

 meshes of which a copious and heavy dew hung 

 so plentifully that the whole face of the country 

 seemed, as it were, covered with two or three setting nets drawn one 

 over another. When the dogs attempted to hunt, their eyes were 

 so blinded and hood-winked that they could not proceed, but were 

 obliged to lie down and scrape the incumbrances from their faces 



