2 THOUGHTS ON HUNTING 



are universally allowed to be the best in the world. Whence, I think, this 

 inference may be drawn that although every man who follows this diver- 

 sion may not understand it, yet it is extraordinary, of the many who do, 

 that one only, of any note, should have written on the subject. It is rather 

 unfortunate for me, that this ingenious sportsman should have preferred 

 writing an elegant poem to an useful lesson ; since, if it had pleased him, 

 he might easily have saved me the trouble of writing these Letters. Is it 

 not strange, in a country where the press is in one continued labour with 

 opinions of almost every kind, from the most serious and instructive to 

 the most ridiculous and trifling ; a country, besides, so famous for the best 

 hounds, and the best horses to follow them ; whose authors sometimes 

 hunt, and whose sportsmen sometimes write that only the practical part 

 of hunting should be known ? There is, however, no doubt, that the prac- 

 tical part of it would be improved, were it to be accompanied by theory. 

 France, Germany, and Italy, are also silent, I believe, on the subject ; 

 though each of these countries has had its sportsman. Foxes, it is true, 

 they never hunt, and hares but seldom ; yet the stag, and wild boar, both 

 in France and in Germany, are still pursued with the utmost splendour 

 and magnificence. In Italy, there has been no hunting since the death of 

 the Duke of Parma : he was very fond of it ; and, I apprehend, all hunting 

 in that country ceased with him. The only sportsmen now remaining are 

 gentlemen in green coats, who, taking their couteaux de chasse along with 

 them, walk into the fields to catch small birds, which they call andar a la 

 caccia, or, in plain English, going a-hunting : yet it has not been so with 

 horsemanship : that has been treated scientifically by all in Italy, by 

 Pignatelli ; in Germany, by Isenbourg ; and in France, by La Gueriniere. 

 Nor are the useful lessons of the Duke of Newcastle confined to this country 

 only ; they are both read and practised everywhere : nor is he the only 

 noble lord who has written on the subject while, upon hunting, all are 

 silent : and were it not for the muse of Somerville, who has so judiciously 

 and so sweetly sung, the dog, that useful, that honest, that faithful, that 

 disinterested, that entertaining animal, would be suffered to pass unnoticed 

 and undistinguished. 



A northern court, indeed, did honour this animal with a particular 

 mark of approbation and respect ; but the fidelity of the dog has since 

 given place to the sagacity of the elephant. 1 Naturalists, it is true, have 

 included dogs in the specific descriptions that they have given us of animals. 

 Authors may have written on hunting, and booksellers may know many 

 who to sportsmen are unknown ; but I again repeat, that I know not any 

 writer, ancient or modern, from the time of Nimrod to the present day 

 (one only excepted), who has given any useful information to a sportsman. 3 



1 Vide Mr. Pope's Letter to Mr. Cromwell. 



* Many French authors have given rules for hunting the hare and stag : to make this 



