160 THE BEST THING OF THE SEASON. 1845. 



reply will apply here. My Lord says, " There is so little 

 scent, that if my hounds do not race down their fox, 

 they cannot hunt him down, because we meet so 

 late." Some rude fellow (like myself), who loves 

 fox-hunting^ might say, " Then Avhy the d — 1 don't 

 you meet earlier?" Half the field would say, "We 

 can't ; we were all at Lady So-and-so's till four this 

 morning." 1 know this as well as they do. I know 

 they can't ; at least I know they won't ; for people 

 now-a days must enjoy late parties, and fox-hunting 

 too, but not fox-hunting in perfection, unless they 

 consider hounds racing across country perfection. If 

 they do, it is all very avcII ; but I really think the 

 Warwickshire drag just as good ; indeed better, for 

 they woidd kill more horses, and that seems the thing 

 by which we are to judge of the goodness of the day's 

 sport ! If a young man should be asked in the 

 evening what sport he had had in the morning, he 

 would reply, if it had been what he considered good, 

 " Capital ! one of the best things this season : the 

 horses were lying about in all directions ; five died in 

 the field ; I expect to hear by to-morrow's post that 

 mine is dead also." — This would be unblushingly 

 told to a lady, I suppose to show what a fine fellow 

 the rider must be ! Now I should realty think this 

 to a woman of a reflecting mind would be about 

 as much recommendation as if he had slaughtered 

 an ox, and about as much proof of the soundness 

 of his head as of the goodness of his heart. If 

 a horse breaks a limb, his back, or his neck, hunt- 

 ing, it does not much matter ; it is a fair accident : 

 and there's an end of him : the rider may share the 

 same fate, and sometimes the loss to society is about 

 equal. A horse may occasionally be killed by over- 



