214 COMPARATIVE MERITS OF THE 



LETTER XVIII. 



Before I proceed on my suliject, give me 

 leave to set you right in one particular, where 

 I perceive I have been misunderstood by you. 

 You say, you little expected to see the abilities 

 of a huntsman degraded beneath those of a 

 whipper-in. This is a serious charge against 

 me, as a sportsman ; and though I cannot allow 

 that I have put the cart before the horse in the 

 manner you are pleased to mention, yet you 

 have made it necessary for me to explain myself 

 further about it. 



I must therefore remind you, that I speak of 

 my own country only ; a country full of riot, 

 where the covers are large, and where there is a 

 chase full of deer, and full of game. In such 

 a country as this, you that know so well how 

 necessary it is for a pack of fox-hounds to be 

 steady, and to be kept together, ought not to 

 wonder that I should prefer an excellent whip- 

 per-in to an excellent huntsman. No one knows 

 better than you do how essential a good adju- 



