2 THE INFLUENCE OF 



has written a most instructive and amusing account 

 of the way in which men enjoy fox-hunting. If, 

 therefore, a man's character and his occupations 

 and tastes exercise a mutual influence upon each 

 other, it follows that while men of different dis- 

 positions pursue sports in different ways, the sports 

 also which they do pursue will tell considerably in 

 the development of their natural character. 



Now, the field sport which is perhaps pursued 

 by a greater number of Englishmen than any other, 

 and which is most zealously admired by its devotees, 

 is fox-hunting. It is essentially English in its 

 nature. 



" A fox-hunt to a foreigner is strange, 



'Tis likewise subject to tlie double danger 

 Of falling first, and having in exchange 



Some pleasant laughter at the awkward stranger." 



And it is this very falling which adds in some 

 degree to its popularity ; suave mari magno, it is 

 pleasant to know that your neighbour A.'s horse, 

 which he admires so much, has given him a fall at 

 that very double over which your little animal has 

 carried you so safely ; and it is pleasant to feel 

 yourself secure from the difficulties entailed on B, 

 by his desire to teach his four-year-old how to 

 jump according to his tastes. But apart from this 

 delight — uncharitable if you like to call it — which 

 is felt at the hazards and failures of another, there 



