THE ART ITSELF 199 



and the false gospel he preached has disciples 

 even to this day. To better define the two 

 sports, we should speak of them as hare-hunting 

 and fox-running. Slow hunting and the puzzling 

 out of a line is very pretty to watch, but those 

 who want to see it should go out with hare- 

 hounds, and not wish to debase the foxhound's 

 character. The principle of fox-hunting is to 

 get away after your fox as quickly as you can, 

 and to use every means in your power to keep 

 near him. The huntsman should start off as 

 soon as there is five or six couple on the line, 

 and if he keeps his horn going, the rest will 

 quickly catch him up. There are some men who 

 like to wait till all the hounds are out of covert 

 and then lay them on, but that to me savours 

 too much of the old hare-hunter. The first man 

 who understood the principles of fox-hunting, 

 recognising the difference of the two pursuits, 

 and recording it in his immortal work, was 

 Peter Beckford. I will quote you a passage 

 from his book to show that my ideas of the way 

 the game should be played are in accordance 

 with this great authority. He says : ' A pack of 

 harriers will kill a cub, better perhaps than a 



