156 ON HUNTING. 



hedge and half m a ditch, or pounded before a *bul- 

 finch,' feeUng very ridiculous. There are men who cut 

 a very respectable figure in the hunting-field who never 

 saw a pack of hounds until they w^ere past thirty. The 

 ■city of London turns out many such ; so does every 

 great town where money is made by men of pluck, bred, 

 perhaps, as ploughboys in the country. We could name 

 three — one an M.P. — under these conditions, who would 

 pass muster in Leicestershire, if necessary. But a good 

 seat on horseback, pluck, and a love of the sport, are 

 essential. A few years ago a scientific manufacturer, a 

 very moderate horseman, was ordered horse exercise as 

 a remedy for mind and body prostrated by over-anxiety. 

 He found that, riding along the road, his mind was as 

 busy and wretched as ever. A friend prescribed hunt- 

 ing, purchased for him a couple of made hunters, and 

 gave him the needful elementary instruction. The first 

 result was, that he obtained such sound, refreshinsr 

 sleep as he had not enjoyed since boyhood ; the next, 

 that in less than two seasons he made himself quite at 

 home with a provincial pack, and now rides so as to 

 enjoy himself without attracting any more notice than 

 one who had been a fox-hunter from his youth upwards." 



The illustration at the commencement of this chapter 

 gives a very fair idea of the seat of good horsemen 

 going at a fence and broad ditch, Avhere j^ace is essential, 

 A novice may advantageously study the seats of the 

 riders in Herring's " Steeplechase Cracks," painted by 

 an artist who was a sportsman in his day. 



A few invaluable hints on riding to hounds are to be 

 found in the Druid s account of Dick Christian. 



The late Marquis of Hastings, father of the present 

 Marquis, was one of the best and keenest fox-hunters 



