THE LAMB AND THE FOX. 167 



dreary months of winter totally unprovided with amuse- 

 ment. 



What therefore, pro bono publico, we require is to 

 invent, if possible, some description of national recreation 

 which, in all weathers, shall concentrate in groups over 

 the whole superficies of the kingdom, people of all con- 

 ditions, from the highest ranks down to the lowest, to 

 join together in a healthy, manly, harmless sport, requiring 

 coolness, good temper, science, and resolution : and lastly, 

 which shall manure, or top-dress, the entire surface of 

 the country by broad -casting over it, annually, a large 

 amount of gold, silver, and copper. 



Now the invention of hunting produces all these bene- 

 ficial results. At the appointed meet, classes in ordinary 

 life as distinctly separated from each other as the various 

 castes in India, first assemble together, and then, during a 

 good run, are jostled together in lumps, and by bumps, 

 which, by collision, produce many a spark of generous 

 feeling that, under ordinary circumstances, could not 

 possibly have been elicited. For instance, not very long 

 ago, during a run in Leicestershire, a well-dressed, good- 

 looking young stranger was seen to pull up, dismount, 

 and run to the assistance of an old man lying under a 

 horse that was struggling violently above him. In extri- 

 cating the prisoner the liberator was repeatedly kicked. 

 However, although his flesh and coat were cut, and a 



