LETTER XIV 



FOX-HUNTING, however lively and animating it may be in the field, 

 is but a dull, dry subject to write upon ; and I can now assure you 

 from experience, that it is much less difficult to follow a fox-chase than to 

 describe one. You will easily imagine, that to give enough of variety to 

 a single action, to make it interesting, and to describe in a few minutes the 

 events of, perhaps, as many hours ; though it pretend to no merit, has at 

 least some difficulty and trouble : and you will as easily conclude that I 

 am glad they are over. 



You desire me to explain that part of my last Letter, which says, if we 

 can hold him on, we may now recover him. It means, if we have scent to 

 follow on the line of him, it is probable that he will stop, and we may hunt 

 up to him again. You also object to my saying, catch a fox : you call it a 

 bad expression, and say that it is not sportly. I believe that I have not 

 often used it ; and when I have, it has been to distinguish between the 

 hunting a fox down as you do a hare, and the killing of him with hard 

 running. You tell me, I should always kill a fox : I might answer, I must 

 catch him first. 



You say, that I have not enlivened my chase with many halloos : it- 

 is true, I have not ; and, what is worse, I fear I am never likely to meet 

 your approbation in that particular ; for should we hunt together, then I 

 make no doubt you will think that I halloo too much ; a fault which every 

 one is guilty of, who really loves this animating sport, and is eager in the 

 pursuit of it. Believe me, I never could halloo in my life, unless after 

 hounds ; and the writing a halloo appears to me almost as difficult as to 

 pen a whisper. 



Your friend A , you say, is very severe on us fox-hunters : no one 



is more welcome. However, even he might have known, that the profession 

 of fox-hunting is much altered since the time of Sir John Vanbrugh ; 1 

 and the intemperance, clownishness, and ignorance of the old fox-hunter,, 

 are quite worn out : a much truer definition of one might now be made 

 than that which he has left. Fox-hunting is now become the amusement 

 of gentlemen ; nor need any gentleman be ashamed of it. 



I shall now begin to answer your various questions as they present 

 themselves. Though I was glad of this expedient to methodize, in some 



* l See Introduction. 



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