THE NOBLE SCIENCE. 147 



moment of excitement and pleasure indescribable. You 

 knew before that it was all right ; you could swear by 

 *^ old Medler, who never spoke false ; " 



" You would lay ten to one 'twas a find." 



But now you have the evidence to prove the fact, by 

 ocular demonstration. He has not stolen away, leaving 

 a steaming trail behind ; there he is, and you see 

 nothing to hinder a continuance, upon fair terms, with 

 him. Grateful, however, as is — welcome as must be — 

 this tocsin to the ear, it is far better altogether dispensed 

 with, than used incautiously or out of place. I would 

 not divest the sport of one particle of its animation and 

 cheeriness; but fox-hunters do not, generally, err in 

 silence. Too much noise must create confusion, and 

 render hounds wild. A noisy, over- vociferous hunts- 

 man* sets a fatal example to his field, and is only 

 preferable to one who, in the other extreme, may be 

 silent and sulky to a degree of slackness. He must 

 neither attempt to find a fox with his horn, and frighten 

 him to death with his tongue ; nor must he talk to 

 his hounds with apathy and indifference. When I say 

 that fox-hunters do not err in silence, I mean that the 

 proportion of mischief far exceeds the benefit resulting 



* Virgil, in his Georgics, says, " Ingentem clamore premes ad retia 

 cervum," speaking of stag-hunting : — but this clamour was only to drive the 

 stag to the nets. 



