SPORTS:\L\N 209 



language addressed to them by the o^mer of the 

 land — a cu*cumstance often \Wtnessed by the MTiter, 

 who has invariably proved the old proverb to be true, 

 that " A soft word turneth away ^^Tath " ; and mdeed 

 has gone so far, at times, by way of giAing a tm-n to 

 the subject, as to beg those gentlemen who were 

 threatening to horsewhip the man for his abuse, 

 either to horsewhip liim instead of the farmer, or to 

 be patient and hear what was to be said. By this 

 time both parties got cool, and he then commenced 

 by stating that it was entirely through ignorance that 

 they were domg miscliief ; and had the farmer only 

 spoken ci^illy, these gentlemen would have mstantly 

 refrained from it, as he wished : at the same time 

 adding, *' Surely, farmer, if you are a thoroughbred 

 Englishman, you cannot object to assist in gi^ing 

 these gentlemen a little amusement, who have 

 probably been fighting the battles of your country' 

 for you ! " And that he should recollect fox-hmitmg 

 is not a new jumped-up sport, like steeple-chasing, 

 but the old-estabUshed sport of the comitry, one 

 cause why EngUsh officers are superior to those 

 of almost every foreign comitry ; that it is fox- 

 hunting which makes them hardy, by taking them 

 out in all weathers, and instils into them a sph-it of 

 enterprise, even beyond what they themselves had 



