178 LADIES ON HOESEBACK. 



that happy contact which the hunting-field so 

 well engenders ; none of that delicious feehng 

 of equality which the peer and the peasant 

 seem alike to acknowledge whilst participating 

 side hy side in the dangers and excitement of 

 the chase. All would be stillness, solitude, 

 •and gloom ! 



Suffer me, then, to Implore my countrymen 

 and countrywomen to do all in their power to 

 promote the pleasures of hunting. It must 

 immensely benefit even those who do not 

 actually participate in the sport, inasmuch as 

 it brings rich and poor into happy contact, 

 and causes a vast amount of money to be 

 circulated, which enriches the pockets of the 

 poorer classes, and brings grist to many a 

 mill which would otherwise stand desolate, 

 with disused and motionless wheel. To us 

 who do participate in it, there is no need for 

 speech. Which of us does not know the 

 pleasures of preparing for the glorious sport ? 

 the early rousing up from slothful slumber, 

 the anxious outward glance at the weather, 

 that fitful tyrant which makes or mars our 

 enjoyment ; the donning of hunting garments, 



