HOKSES AND HOUNDS. 257. 



I tried tlie experiment once of letting a huntsman liave the 

 management of my hounds in the field, but it would not do — 

 half the pleasure was gone; and I came to the conclusion, 

 before the expiration of the first month, that I must either 

 hunt the hounds myself again or give them up entirely. Gen- 

 tlemen who merely take the management of a pack of fox- 

 hounds derive only a secondary pleasure from the sport, and I 

 feel assured, were it a more general practice for them to hunt 

 their own hounds, we should not hear of the continual changes 

 which are yearly taking place. They would become attached to 

 their hounds, anxious to show sport, and more enthusiastic in 

 the pursuit of it. 



In confirmation of this view of the case, I cannot do better 

 than quote a passage from the clever author of the " Noble 

 Science," who, in alluding to the power of mind, thus expresses 

 his opinion: — "For this reason I imagine that men of educa- 

 tion, or, in the common acceptation of the term, gentlemen, 

 who devote themselves to any of the several exercises or accom- 

 plishments, such as riding- or driving, boxing or fencing, shoot- 

 ing, cricket, &c., are generally found far to excel, in proportion 

 to their number, the rest of the world, who in inferior station 

 have adopted any of these walks of life, from necessity rather 

 than choice. In divinity, physic, or law, the highest ornaments 

 have been, with few exceptions, the most finished gentleman. 

 And 1 have no doubt that a gentleman farmer, instead of too 

 often furnishing matter for a joke, would prove the best agri- 

 culturist if he would farm less as an amateur, and bring his 

 own deductions to the assistance of the general rules of practice. 

 I see myself no other objection to the gentleman huntsman but 

 this, that he would not, could not, consistently with the main- 

 tenance of any society, abandon himself to the labour of the 

 field, certainly not of the kennel ; and I hold it a sine qua non 

 that a huntsman should be perpetually with his hounds." 



I cannot quite agree with Mr. Delme Radcliffe, that a gentle- 

 man who hunts his own hounds must of necessity give up 

 society even to a moderate extent, unless he hunts six days a 

 week ; in that case I should suppose society must suffer con- 

 siderably ; but a thrice or four days a week man may not only 

 give a dinner party occasionally at liis own house, without 

 allowing the fish to be spoilt before he makes his appearance in 

 the drawing-room, but he may also favour his neighbours with 

 his company, if very desirable, at least three days in the week. 

 Although not a very gay man in my day, I have danced all 

 night at two balls in a week, dined out two, and hunted three 

 days. That I did not feel particularly fresh at the end of it 



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