ON THIS SUBJECT. 5 



muse of Somervile, which has so judiciously and 

 so sweetly sung, the dog, that useful, that honest, 

 that faithful, that disinterested, that entertaining 

 animal, would be suffered to pass unnoticed and 

 undistinguished. 



A Northern court once, indeed, did honour 

 this animal with a particular mark of appro- 

 bation and respect ; but the fidelity of the dog 

 has since given place to the sagacity of the ele- 

 phant.* Naturalists, it is true, have included 

 dogs in the specific descriptions they have given 

 us of animals. Authors may have written on 

 hunting, and booksellers may know many, that 

 to sportsmen are unknown ; but I again repeat 

 that I know not any writer, ancient or modern, 

 from the time of Nimrod to the present day (one 

 only excepted) who has given any useful infor- 

 mation to a sportsman.*!' 



It may be objected, that the hunting of a pack 

 of hounds depends on the huntsman ; and that 

 the huntsman, generally speaking, is an illiterate 

 fellow, wlio seldom can either read or write ; — 

 this cannot well be denied. I must therefore 



* Vide Mr. Pope's Letter to Mr. Cromwell. 



t Many French authors have given rules for hunting the 

 hare and stag ; to make this passage less exceptionable, 

 therefore, it maybe better perhaps, instead oi sportsmen, to 

 r ead fox-hunter. 



