THOUGHTS UPON HUNTING. 1 7 



tically certain. When 1 have any better authority than 

 my own, such as Somerville, for instance (who, by the bye^ 

 is the only one that has written intelligibly on this subjed), 

 I shall take the liberty of giving it you in his own words^. 

 to save you the trouble of turning to him. 



You may remember, perhaps, that when we were hunting 

 together at Turin, the hounds having lost the stag, and 

 the piqueurs (still more at fault than they) being ignorant 

 which way to try, the king bid them ask Milord Anglois i 

 nor is it to be wondered at, if an Englishman should be 

 thought to understand the art of hunting, as the hounds 

 which this country produces are universally allowed to 

 be the best in the world. Whence,* I think j this in- 

 ference may be drawn — that although every man who 

 follows this diversion may not understand it, yet it is 

 extraordinary^ of the many who do, that one only, of any 

 note, should have written on the subject. It is rathcfr 

 unfortunate for me, that this ingenious sportsman should 

 have preferred wa'iting an elegant poem to an useful 

 lesson ; since, if it had pleased him, he might easily have 

 Saved me the trouble of writing these Letters. Is it not 

 strange, in a country where the press is in one continued 



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