SCIENCE OF FOXHUNTING. 343 



conduct of those, who, save for these glaring cruel- 

 ties, might justly claim the title of ministering 

 angels ? Must we assign it to ignorance or in- 

 difference ? Charity would suggest the first as a 

 palliative excuse. * We are loth to attribute it to 

 the latter. It has been said, " Where ignorance is 

 bliss, -'tis folly to be wise -^^ but we say, when the 

 Bible and the laws of our country punish cruelty to 

 all animals with severity, the most ignorant can 

 scarcely be unacquainted with the divine, as well as 

 human, injunction, " to be merciful to their beasts.^' 

 No excuse can be made for ^^ riding a willing horse 

 to death.'' 



Will Headman's next appearance in public was 

 in a district wholly unlike that from which he ob- 

 tained the hunting run above recorded. There lay 

 a small patch of gorse, surrounded on all sides by 

 down land, and in one direction extending for 

 several miles, without a twig to shelter a fox from 

 his pursuers ; and thither were seen flocking from 

 north, east, south, and west equestrians of all 

 denominations, from four different hunts, to witness 

 the performance of Will Headman's rattlers over 

 the open, the news of his late exploits having spread 

 in all directions. It was a gala meet for the fast 

 men, and Sam Coventry had selected a thorough- 

 bred for the occasion. George Tracy, also, was 

 conspicuous for the neatness of his attire, and that 

 quiet and unassuming manner which distinguishes 

 the well-bred gentleman from the snob. Whilst 

 talking with Coventry, the elderly gentleman with 

 white hair, to whom he had rendered assistance a 



