CONVINCING MEN AGAINST THEIR WILL. 61 



them." And then I prayed my friends to have their 

 hounds thereafter drafted properly in to feed, accord- 

 ing to their appetites and condition, and, as long as 

 any of the pack were so infinitely below the mark, 

 to have those thin ones fed morning and evening. 

 On the day previous to hunting, then, all feeding to 

 be over by twelve o'clock ; and nothing of any sort 

 to be given to them on the morning of hunting. 



Will ye believe it, oh ye English disciples of St. 

 Hubert! when laying down these instructions as a 

 golden rule, I was met by my friends with the words, 

 " Do you think ? " 



" No," I cried in agony, *' I don't think, I have 

 long ceased to think about it ; I know you can catch 

 nothing, though you may shoot it, if you let your 

 hounds go out on full stomachs." 



" What should you do without your breakfast ? " 



" Oh dear, oh dear ! Man is not a predatory animal 

 who hunts only when he is hungry, and gorges him- 

 self when feeding, unless (as to the latter) when he is 

 an alderman. The nature of the hound is to hunt 

 for a stomachful ; and if you outrage all nature's 

 designs you cannot expect to develope the energies of 

 the animal of your use. If you will not learn from 

 me, then learn from that grand principle under which 

 it has been my delight to study — let nature be your 



