THE NOBLE SCIENCE. 269' 



ment for that which should, and might, have been 

 obtained gratis, at the origin of the hunt. And when 

 we consider that the same money might be better 

 diverted into other channels ; that two or three hundred 

 pounds are no trifle in the calculation of expenses ; it is 

 well to warn the novice, anxious only for the end, and 

 reckless as to the means, against sowing the seed which, 

 when once rooted, cannot easily be exterminated. 



" Principiis obsta, sero medicina paratur." 



With regard to earth -stopping, in the abstract, as 

 nothing is more mortifying than running constantly 

 to ground, it is obvious that where earths exist as 

 numerous as in Herts, and many other countries, no 

 expense can be spared in the labour of stopping them, 

 till the arrival of that Utopian aera, when all such mat- 

 ters shall be undertaken by the owner or occupier of 

 the soil ; but setting aside any difficulties, as to the 

 proper attention to these earths, I am satisfied that 

 they are evils even when efficiently attended to. I have 

 considered Mr. Smith's plan of doing away with them 

 entirely by stopping them for the season, in all its bear- 

 ings, since he was good enough, verbally, to commu- 

 nicate the notion to me, and since I have seen the same 

 in print; I believe that he is entitled to all the merit 

 of the idea, and I am convinced that it must answer 

 beyond all other methods yet proposed or practised. I 



