ENTERING AT HARE CENSURED. 101 



Obedience, you very rightly observe, is a ne- 

 cessary quality in a hound, for he is useless 

 without it. It is therefore an excellent princi- 

 ple for a huntsman to set out upon ; yet, good 

 as it is, I think it may be carried too far. I 

 would not have him insist on too much, or tor- 

 ment his hounds mal-d-propos, by exacting of 

 them by force what is not absolutely necessary 

 to your diversion. You say, he intends to enter 

 your hounds at hare : is it to teach them obe- 

 dience? — Does he mean to encourage vice in 

 them, to correct it afterwards ? I have heard, 

 indeed, that the way to make hounds steady 

 from hare is to enter them at hare;* that is, to 

 encourage them to hunt her. It requires more 

 faith than I pretend to, to believe so strange a 

 paradox. 



It concerns me to be obliged to differ from 

 you in opinion ; but since it cannot now be 

 helped, we will pursue the subject, and examine 

 it throughout. Permit me then to ask you, 

 what it is you propose from the entering of your 



* In proper hands either method may do. The method 

 here proposed seems best suited to fox-hounds in general, 

 as well as to those who have the direction of them. The 

 talents of some men are superior to all rules ; nor is their 

 success any positive proof of the goodness of their methods 

 See page 81. 



