IV 



" By inclination I never was a hare-hunter ; I followed this 

 diversion more for air and exercise than for amuse- 

 ment, and if I could have persuaded myself to ride on 

 the turnpike road to the three-mile stone and back 

 again, I should have thought I had no need of a pack 

 of harriers." Peter Beckford. 



T OWE too many pleasant hours to 

 hunting hares to damn the sport 

 with faint praise, but, kind reader, if you 

 notice a want of enthusiasm in the follow- 

 ing chapter, pray do not ascribe it so much 

 to my sympathy with the quotation that 

 heads this article, as to my desire to pose 



105 



