[185] 



to say, " Hark to Wellington, my brave 

 fellows !" the whole pack joins him in an 

 instant, the fox is halloo' d, and they go 

 away close at his brush. It is indeed a 

 glorious sight to see one-and-twenty cou- 

 ples of powerful animals going with velo- 

 city, " best pace," over a country, all crowd- 

 ing a-head and exerting their energetic 

 powers to the utmost, not a hound out of 

 his place, like a Lacedemonian phalanx, all 

 intent on victory, and so steady that no- 

 thing can take off their attention, — five- 

 and-fifty minutes, without a check, — and 

 then, whoo-whoop, they " kill him." 



The annual meeting of the masters of 

 fox-hounds, I always considered, if followed 

 up with spirit, as likely to be of great ad- 

 vantage to the sport, from the rank, for- 

 tune, and respectability of those gentlemen. 

 I was indeed in hopes, at some of those 

 meetings, a plan to prevent the great de- 

 struction of foxes might not only have been 



