*42- THOUGHTS UPON HUNTING. 



LETTER XXIV. 



I AM now, my friend, about to take leave of 3'ou ^ 

 and, at the same time that 1 give repose to you, let me en- 

 treat you to shew the sam^ favour to your hounds and 

 horses. It is now the breeding season ; a proper time, in 

 my opinion, to leave off hunting j since it is more likely to 

 be your servant's amusement than yours 5 and is always to 

 the prejudice of two noble animals, which we sportsmen 

 are bound in gratitude to take care of. 



After a long and tiresome winter, surely the horse de- 

 serves some repose. Let him, then, enjoy his short-lived 

 liberty J and, as his feet are the parts which suffer most, 

 turn him out into a soft pasture. Some there are who 

 disapprove of grass, saying, that, when a horse is in good 

 order, the turning him out undoes it all again. It cer- 

 tainly does : yet, at the same time, I believe that no 

 horse can be fresh in his limbs, or will last you long» 



