95 



like this, that a man must look for future great- 

 ness. 



It will be obvious, that this perfection of 

 dutiful obedience has been created by an early 

 judicious notice of every error. A generous 

 young dog, where he has been well managed, if 

 his legs have carried him on the other side of a 

 hill into some involuntary spring of game, never 

 in the first instance abstracts upon the idea of 

 being seen by you or not; he concludes, by 

 your previous management of him, that you 

 are conscious of the blunder; and his sweep in 

 is often misinterpreted for what it will after- 

 wards become, a matter of sagacity. Now it 

 is your business to take especial care that he 

 do not abstract thus too soon, and before that 

 sagacity is ripened by experience into a convic- 

 tion that he can make nothing of the birds 

 without you; otherwise, you will soon have 

 him to look for, some half-mile off perhaps, 

 drawing up to a point, where he thinks himself 

 very clever in having marked them down, and 

 whence his unlicensed approach will again 

 drive them. Cherish therefore every tendency 

 to sweep in from unseen error, and keep alive, 

 as long as you can, this notion of your conscious- 

 ness. If, unknown to him, you have had a 

 glimpse at the birds as they got off, or if you 



