222 THE FOX. 



ground, but, like the dancers of our poet Gray, is " now pursuing, 

 now retreating" now to the north, now to the east, or south, or 

 wes t just as the quarry takes it into its head to fly; and these 

 desultory movements will never suit the tactics of a gambler or of 

 a pickpocket There is nothing stationary in the boundless realms 

 of Nimrod. No sooner is the word of command given by the hunts- 

 man for the pack to enter cover, than the whole mullitude of sports- 

 men is on the alert, not one of them having the least conception 

 where the chase will end, so that no public-house, as in a horse-race, 

 will have prepared expressly its adulterated ale for thirsty callers, as 

 these may be many miles off during the whole course of the day. 

 Nobody, be he ever so calculating a knave, will have the opportunity 

 of betting seriously upon any particular horse, as it cannot possibly 

 be watched with due attention. It may suddenly get its neck broken, 

 and be heard of no more, as I myself once witnessed. Its rider may 

 be thrown, or may not be disposed to continue longer in the chase. 

 These, and many other incidents, are perpetually occurring, and 

 militate decidedly against gambling in any of its odious phases. In 

 fine, they are an everlasting bar to the entrance of prowling knaves 

 and calculating thieves into our delightful, healthful, peaceful, and 

 national exercise, well known under the usual denomination of fox- 

 hunting. 



Long may Great Britain boast of her useful pastime, which is 

 unique of its kind, free from knaves, free from pickpockets, free 

 from the necessity of a police attendance, free from blacklegs in a 

 word, free from everything that may cause a man to say he repents 

 of having joined in the chase, or to confess that he has not found 

 himself better in health and spirits after the day's sport was over than 

 before it began. It is my wish, as I have already declared my wish, 

 my ardent wish, to cherish and protect the breed of foxes : not that 

 I deny, however, a man, once or twice in his life, may be reduced to 

 the repugnant necessity of committing vulpicide or fox-murder. 

 This has been my case, although the act was so imperative in ity 

 circumstances that it did not bring with it the remorse of conscience 

 which it would have done under different feelings ; for, be it known 

 that, in the eyes of those who love the chase, there can hardly be a 

 more heinous crime than that of wilfully and maliciously assassinating 



