6 THOUGHTS ON HUNTING 



and beneath his lofty muse. Prose has no excuse ; and you may depend 

 on every information that I can give. The familiar manner in which my 

 thoughts will be conveyed to you ha these Letters, may sufficiently evince 

 the intention of the author : they are written with no other design than 

 to be of use to sportsmen. Were my aim to amuse, I would not endeavour 

 to instruct : a song might suit the purpose better than an essay. To im- 

 prove health, by promoting exercise ; to excite gentlemen who are fond of 

 hunting to obtain the knowledge necessary to enjoy it in perfection ; and 

 to lessen the punishments which are too often inflicted on an animal so 

 friendly to man are the chief ends intended by the following Letters. 



I shall not pretend to lay down rules which are to be equally good in 

 every country ; I shall think myself sufficiently justified in recommending 

 such as have been tried with success in the countries where I have generally 

 hunted. As almost every country has a different dialect, you will also 

 excuse, I hope, any terms that may not be current with you : I will take 

 the best care I can that the number shall be small. It is needless, I think, 

 to advise you not to adopt too easily the opinions of other men. You will 

 hear a tall man say, It is folly to ride any but large horses ; and every little 

 man in company will immediately sell his little horses, buy such as he can 

 hardly mount, and ride them in hilly countries, for which they are totally 

 unfit. Pride induces some men to dictate ; indolence makes others like to 

 be dictated to ; so both parties find their account in it. You will not let 

 this mislead you : you will dare to think for yourself. Nor will you believe 

 every man, who pretends to know what you like better than you do yourself. 

 There is a degree of coxcombry, I believe, in everything. You have heard, 

 I make no doubt, that greyhounds are either black, or white, or black and 

 white ; and if you have any faith in those who say they know best, they 

 will tell you that there are no others. 1 Prejudice, however, is by far too 

 blind a guide to be depended on. 



I have read somewhere, that there is no book so bad, but a judicious 

 reader may derive some advantage from the reading of it : I hope these 

 Letters will not prove the only exception. Should they fall into the hands 

 of such as are not sportsmen, I need not, I think, make any excuses to them 

 for the contents, since the title sufficiently shows for whom they were de- 

 signed. Nor are they meant for such sportsmen as need not instruction, 

 but for those that do ; to whom, I presume, in some parts at least, they 

 may be found of use. Since a great book has been long looked upon as a 

 great evil, I shall take care not to sin that way at least ; and shall endeavour 

 to make these Letters as short as the extent of my subject will admit. 



You will rally me, perhaps, on the choice of my frontispiece ; but why 



1 There is a fashion in greyhounds : some coursers even pretend, that all not being of the 

 fashionable colour, are curs, and not greyhounds. Greyhound seems to be a corruption 

 from some other word ; most probably from gaze-hound. 



