78 THE NOBLE SCIENCE. 



through the toils and pleasures of many a day. He 

 who would betake himself to the road-side public, or 

 farm house, and there regale within, while his horse is 

 shivering without, deserves never to hunt again ; but 

 there are few, very few, and none deserving the name of 

 generous sportsmen, capable of such insensibihty towards 

 the noble beast, in every way superior to the brute who 

 misuses him. Our errors, in this respect, are more of 

 omission than commission. We omit certain precautions, 

 not because they are not duly suggested by prudence, 

 but because they happen, at the moment, to be incom- 

 patible with our convenience. It is certainly the reverse 

 of what is agreeable, to be planted at some rural hostel 

 without any very ostensible means of reaching the 

 mahogany, where, possibly, your presence may be re- 

 quired before "the glasses sparkle on the board," and 

 *' the feast of reason and the flow of soul " will resume 

 dominion o'er the close of night ! You may have some 

 time to cool yourself before a hack or any conveyance 

 can be procured, but, if your horse is thoroughly tired, 

 you must not remove him from the first comfortable 

 asylum you can find. It is not necessary that it should 

 be particularly warm ; if you can obtain plenty of clothing 

 he will be better for plenty of air ; tranquil repose is what 

 he requires ; and, till you can send yovu' own gi'oom to 

 his assistance, you must leave him in charge of a veteri- 

 nary surgeon, a class of which there is now a respectable 



