STARVING FOX HOUNDS. 193 



' Inhumanity to Dog's,' is a letter dated September 1 evening-, and signed 

 Salopiensis, in which the writer describes a Kennel of Hounds, which he accident- 

 ally passed by, as being- kept and managed by the Proprietor, as far as regards 

 feeding- and other comforts, in a way shocking- to humanity. When a person sets 

 about, in g-ood earnest, to do a thing-, he would look like a fool, if he could not 

 assig-n a motive for what he is doing-. How prudent the writer in question, to tell 

 us that he had a motive, and how very judicious to assig-n one, the most ornamental 

 to human nature humanity : but we have only his own bare declaration for that, 

 which I, and I am not alone in the opinion, firmly believe, is not intituled to the 

 least credit : for 



" I know him to the bottom from within, 

 " His shallow centre to the utmost skin. 



" My intimate knowledge of the g-eneral management of the Pack, with which 

 I have hunted for upwards of twenty years, would have precluded the possibility 

 of even the most distant idea being- entertained by me, that Salopiensis alluded to 

 them, had not he mentioned the circumstance of ' nine of the best hounds having 

 died almost suddenly, not long- ag-o,' which I know was unfortunately the case about 

 a year ag-o, with nine of the hounds of the pack I hunt with, and which coincidence 

 left no doubt on my mind to what pack he alluded. Not satisfied with stating 

 that the hounds were in a state of starvation, ' shocking- to humanity,' at the time 

 he accidentally passed the kennel, he g-oes on to assert that, the death of the nine 

 dogs a year ago, ' was occasioned by overloading their stomachs with flesh, after 

 fasting three days, one of which they had been hunted.' Now a falsehood, if it is 

 intended to travel far, ought to carry with it not only possibility, but a very con- 

 siderable quantity of probability also : how much of these two very necessary in- 

 gredients attach to the assertions of Salopiensis t I will leave your readers, and 

 especially those who know, and hunted with the pack at the time, to judge; and 

 will myself assert without fear of contradiction, that the pack, at the time those 

 nine hounds died, were in as high condition in point of flesh, mettle, and spirit, as 

 any pack in the kingdom ; and moreover, it was the opinion of two physicians, 

 who humanely offered their services to attempt to save them, that they died from 

 the effects of poison. It is well known to all those who know any thing about the 

 management of a pack of well bred fox hounds, that the quality of food and quan- 

 tity must be proportioned to the work performed by them ; if they were to have 

 animal food every clay in the summer season, when in kennel doing nothing, they 

 would become so high in spirit, as to be perpetually quarrelling-, and tearing each 

 other to pieces, which was actually the case last summer, the master hound having 

 fallen a victim to the ferocious attack of the whole kennel, which quarrelsome 

 spirit rendered it necessary for even the huntsman himself, to approach the kennel 



