IQO 



HUNTING. 



amusement and not the business of a gentleman. He is at per- 

 fect liberty, therefore, to pursue it in the way which pleases him 

 and suits him best, provided, of course, the gratification of his 

 own tastes is compatible with the equal liberties of others. If 

 he like best to ride the roads, or, at most, make his careful way 

 through an occasional gap, by all means let him do so ; he will 

 not, perhaps, see very much of the sport, but that, after all, is 

 nobody's concern but his own. If, on the other hand, it is his 

 opinion that hunting can yield no amusement deserving the 

 name to anyone who is not in the same field with the hounds, 

 again by all means let him get there and keep there — if he can. 

 Of the two classes into which hunting men may be broadly 

 divided, the men who ride to hunt, and the men who hunt to 

 ride, it should always be remembered that the sportsman^ as 

 distinguished from the mere hunting man, will be found in 

 the former. The latter, however, may be further subdivided. 

 There are those who hunt for the sheer sake of riding hard. In 

 the list of their amusements fences occupy a much more promi- 

 nent place than foxes or hounds, and who would regard the fastest 

 and straightest gallop in the world over the Berkshire or Sussex 

 downs as great an infliction as a blank day in Leicestershire. 

 There are those again who, like the good ' Spectator,' make no 

 account of glory ; who, if they successfully negotiate an accom- 

 modating sheep hurdle, are inclined with Dogberry ' to give God 

 thanks, and make no boast of it,' and if hounds will run away 

 from them, follow the advice of the same sagacious philosopher 

 and ' let them go.' Such men hunt for the sake of the exer- 

 cise, the fresh air, the pleasure of meeting their friends, the 

 diversion from the routine of every-day life. Often enough they 

 are good sportsmen, too, and if they seldom, perhaps, see a fox 

 handsomely killed, enjoy as much as anyone to see him hand- 

 somely found. Every hunt knows one or more of such men ; 

 men who know the name and pedigree of every hound in the 

 pack, the line from every covert, the most practicable place in 

 every fence, the ford to every brook, every gate and every by- 

 road in the whole country. Often thus, without risking their 



