394; SYSTEM OF KEXXEL AXD 



CHAPTER XLVI. 



Winter rural sports Foxhunting and pheasant shooting The battue 

 Commander-in-chief Non-interference Experienced 

 men of sen-ice sometimes General conduct of the field Rivalry 

 in horsemanship Hunting to ride Spoiling sport Heads and 

 tails up. 



Ix the present enlightened age the time of meeting 

 together for the purpose of finding a fox is about 

 one hour before noon, \vhen our forefathers gene- 

 rally returned home for their early dinner, having 

 mounted their horses at cock-crowing, i.e., by the 

 earliest dawn of light, and long before Aurora 

 had risen from her bed in the east. Beckford's 

 opinion on harehunting was, that "if you make 

 a serious business of it, you spoil it." Young 

 England appears to entertain a similar opinion in 

 regard to foxhunting. We have become very 

 luxurious in the nineteenth century ; we don't like to 

 be put out of our way, or, in other words, subjected 

 to the least inconvenience or trouble when it can be 

 avoided ; and therefore, in obedience to their require- 

 ments, eleven o'clock has become the fashionable 

 hour, allowing plenty of time to make a good break- 

 fast, glance over our letters, and take a hasty run 

 through the newspaper, before having a run through 

 the country. 



The heaviest time during the winter season is the 

 forenoon, when there is little to be done in the way 



