TflOUGHTS UPON HUNTING. 23 



the many great men (among whom was the famous Ga- 

 len) who have united in recommending it. I shall, how- 

 everj remind you, that your beloved hero, Henry the' 

 Fourth of France, made it his chief amusement (his very 

 love-letters, strange as it may appear, being filled with 

 little else) ; and that one of the greatest ministers which 

 our own country ever produced, was so fond of this diver- 

 sion, that the first letter he opened, as 1 have been told, 

 was generally that of his huntsman. — In most countries, 

 from the earliest times, hunting has been a principal occu- 

 pation of the people, either for use or amusement ; and 

 many princes have made it their chief delight j a cir- 

 cumstance which occasioned the following bon mot: Louis 

 the Fifteenth was so passionately fond of this diversion, 

 that it occupied him entirely. The King of Prussia, who 

 never hunts, gives up a great deal of his time to music, 

 and himself plays on the flute. A German, last war, meet- 

 ing a Frenchman, asked him very impertinently, " 5/ son 

 " maitre chassoit toujonrsf'" — *' Om, ctiiy' replied the other — 

 " // ne joue jamais de la fluted — The reply was excellent ; 

 but it would have been as well for mankind, perhaps, if 

 that great man had never been otherwise employed.— 



