Hunters, after long and severe chases, should not be brought too soon into similar exertions; numbers are crippled, broke down, and irrecoverably ruined, for want of a little precautionary patience: brought into the field too early, with a stiff rigidity in the limbs, and without the wonted pliability in the joints, the spirits, as well as the frame, become affected by a consciousness of the deficiency; and the RIDER, upon making the discovery, moves in little less misery than the HORSE, who, feeling his temporary imperfection, seems in fear of falling at every stroke. A horse is best recovered from the visible effect of over fatigue, by a great deal of patient walking, exercise upon the turf, and equally patient friction in the stable: no horse perceptibly affected in FRAME or SPIRITS, by long days or severe chases, should be brought into exercise GALLOPS, till every degree of stiffness is previously worn away, and obliterated in gentle motion, of which they are the first to make discovery, by a renovation of strength and action. It is in many hunting stables an invariable practice, upon the appearance of LAMENESS, to bleed and follow up that with a dose of physic, exclusive of whatever local applications it may be thought necessary to make to the part affected; and this, it must be acknowledged, is very frequently attended with the most salutary effects: naturally, however, leading the mind of scientific investigation to believe, much of the advantage may be derived from the rest obtained during the course, as from the operation of the medicine.
HUNTING
,—in its general sense, implies the pleasure of the SPORT at LARGE, without specifying any particular kind of CHASE; of which there are three, and equally well known under the different distinctions of STAG-HUNTING, FOX-HUNTING, and HARE-HUNTING. A minor kind of sport, called OTTER HUNTING, might formerly have been said to constitute a fourth; but it is at present so little known, (and much less practised,) that, like HAWKING, it seems nearly buried in oblivion, and promises very little prospect of sporting resurrection.
Hunting is the pursuit of any species of GAME (or vermin) with a collected body of HOUNDS, sportingly termed a PACK; who, bred for, and broke to, the chase, FIND and HUNT the particular sort to which they are appropriated by scent, drag, or trail, till it escapes by the ARTS, WILES, and SAGACITY, with which it is gifted by NATURE; or, being exhausted, falls a victim to the persevering patience, indefatigable exertions, and instinctive impulse, of the HOUNDS. This sport, in its different degrees, is of very great antiquity, and has been enjoyed, through successive centuries, with gradational improvements; but at no former period has it ever approached its present zenith of unparalleled perfection. Some few reigns past, the enjoyment was considered so truly extatic, that it was engrossed entirely by the NOBLES and superior orders, to the entire exclusion of the people at large, who were then so much in a state of vassalage, as to be held unworthy the participation of so rich a gratification, under the most rigid proscription that legislative and feudal LAWS could frame, or unqualified TYRANNY adopt. Not so in the happy melioration of the present age, when every blessing, every privilege, and every comfort of life, is equally enjoyed from the HIGHEST to the lowest, according to the possessions of every individual; under such necessary and indispensible restrictions, as it may have been found, by the Legislature, prudent to adopt, for the preservation of ORDER, and promotion of PUBLIC GOOD.
Nothing can more clearly demonstrate the attracting power, and exhilarating effects, of the CHASE, than the enthusiastic rapture with which it is enjoyed, and the constantly increasing number of its implicit devotees. Cynical opponents will always continue to be generated, inveterately averse to every pleasure, however sublime or select, that is not immediately congenial to their own sensations; and will with avidity declare perpetual war against any gratification, or enjoyment, in which they are not eventually interested, or personally concerned. The bewildered POLITICIAN, who erroneously suspends the balance of power in his own disordered imagination; the PEDANTIC book-worm, who derives self-consequence from his closet; the MISER, who wraps himself up in the solitary consolation of his canvas comforts; and those PRIGS of puppyism (by Shakespeare better denominated "poppinjays") who exist only in their own personal ambition, and the reflection from the silvered glass, naturally decry pleasures, in which, from the innate sterility, and instinctive apathy, of their own souls, they feel no disposition to engage. Lovers of the CHASE, who, for time immemorial, have been better known and distinguished by the appellation of SPORTSMEN, are almost proverbial for their mutual offices of civility and friendship; no class of men enter more into the openness and glowing warmth of unsuspecting society, the genial inspiration of PHILANTHROPY, and the infinite inexpressible extent of unsullied HOSPITALITY.
Hunting, in respect to the enjoyment, as well as the description of each particular kind of CHASE, will be found under their distinct heads of "Hare-Hunting," "Fox-Hunting," and "Stag-Hunting;" leaving nothing for introduction here, but such general remarks, and salutary inculcations, as appertain solely to the systematic concerns of the field. The prudent sportsman is invariably the guardian of his own safety; for, however he may rely upon the attachment and punctuality of an old or faithful servant, he never declines the service of his own faculties, so long as he can derive advantage from their evident utility. He therefore never mounts his horse, however great his haste, however late his hour, without taking a slight (but sufficient) survey of his apparatus: he feels it a duty to himself to observe, and be convinced, that his SADDLE is not fixed in an improper place, but literally in the centre, equally free from the withers as from the hip-bones; that his GIRTHS are not only judiciously tightened, but that the buckles extend on each side above the PAD, as well as that the STIRRUP-LEATHERS are in too good a state to hazard a chance of their breaking; whenever which happens, in the very heat of the CHASE, great danger (if not an accident) certainly ensues.
Thus safely seated, in the full confidence of his own prudent precaution, he never suffers himself, by the persuasions of the weak or inconsiderate, to be diverted from his invariable purpose of proceeding SLOWLY to the place of meeting, or throwing off the HOUNDS; he well knows, not only the manly propriety, but the sporting necessity, of letting a horse unload the carcase before he is brought into brisk action or strong exertion. Upon joining company in the field, he enters into little or no conversation beyond the friendly salutations of the morning; experimentally knowing, the frivolities sported upon such occasions, by the young, the confident, and the inexperienced, are only calculated to excite the silent curses of the HUNTSMAN, and the contempt of the company, by attracting the attention of the HOUNDS. The judicious sportsman, whether the hounds are drawing or RUNNING, is never seen in a place to incur disgrace, by heading the GAME, or obstructing the HOUNDS; it is a business in which he is a proficient, and he is never at a loss in the execution. From an instinctive attachment to the sport, and an implicit observance of custom, he is totally insensible to the less attentive part of the company, but "tremblingly alive" to every tongue of a HOUND. Not a whimper, a challenge, or hit, but vibrates upon his anxious ear; and his whole soul seems absorbed in the eager hope of transmitting the enlivening signal of A VIEW to his distant friends, in equal expectation.
The CHASE thus commenced, he lays as well in with the hounds as the speed of his horse, and the contingencies of the country, will permit; he stands upon no paltry ceremony with, or servile subservience to, local superiors; this alone is the happy spot where all are equal, where personal pride can assume no consequence, dignity can claim no precedence, and an immensity of property is of no avail. Ever attentive to the sport, he ruminates upon no other object than the object of pursuit: his mind is eternally intent upon the GAME, or the leading hound; the latter of which he makes it a point never to lose sight of, unless by COVERT obscured from his view; when, with the advantage of the WIND, (which he is sure to avail himself of,) and that unerring directory the EAR, he is seldom far from the hounds, or ever thrown out. In every chase there are plenty of slow goers behind, who, prompted by ENVY, are never wanting in the vociferous exclamation of, "Hold hard!" without knowing why; and from no other motive, than not being themselves at the head of the hounds. To these clamours he pays not the least attention, if having viewed either the GAME, or the leading hound, and observed the chase going on without interruption; experimentally convinced, those who are the most forward, must best know the state of the SCENT by the check, or breast-high running of the hounds.
As there is so frequently a jealous clamour about being too forward, the zealous sportsman will never condescend to be too far behind. He knows his place, and he keeps it. He is never seen in the body and bustle of the crowd, riding in a direct line with, and pressing upon, the HEELS of the HOUNDS, but parallel with the last two or three couple of the PACK; where his horse is not only enabled to keep his ground with ease, but the rider enjoys the advantage of observing most minutely every winding of the chase, as well as the various struggles, and enchanting emulative efforts, of the LEADING HOUNDS. In this situation he is sure of seeing where they throw up, and knows to a certainty how far they have carried the SCENT; consequently those only who are FORWARD, and know the state of the chase, are properly QUALIFIED to give the signal of "Hold hard!" to those behind; and not, as is too commonly the case, for those behind to transmit the petulant exclamation to those before. The moment hounds are at fault, he invariably keeps a proper distance, that they may not be obstructed in making their casts, or get interspersed amongst the legs of the HORSES. Upon a hit being made, he attends to the hound who made it, and, upon a recovery of the SCENT, goes instantaneously on with the chase; for a loss of ground at so critical a moment, he well knows it is sometimes difficult to regain.
Notwithstanding his enthusiastic attachment to the sport, the safety of his HORSE preponderates over every other consideration; and this inflexible determination is supported by a few invariable rules, which are never broken in upon under any plea, persuasion, or perversion, whatever. No temptation can induce him to deviate from a plan so prudently adopted, and persevered in with such laudable resolution. He is never seen to enter into the spirit of racing during the CHASE, thereby distressing his horse, and wasting the strength that may be found necessary before the conclusion of a long day: he scorns the idea of taking high or large leaps when they are truly unnecessary, merely to attract attention, or display his own VALOUR, well knowing, "the better part of valour is discretion." He regulates the speed of his horse by the nature of the country he is engaged to go over, and is never known to ride hardest in the deepest ground. Experience, and attentive observation, having long before convinced him, that whatever distance may have been unavoidably lost under temporary obstacles, may with less difficulty be recovered when the horse's WIND (as well as his strength) is preserved, till he can go more at his ease. Whatever may have been the fate of the day, and whatever the length of the CHASE, it is no sooner concluded, than the same steady and cool deliberation with which he started in the morning accompanies him home: no rash or juvenile example induces him to reduce the estimation of his HUNTER to the standard of a post-horse; superior to the instability, and impatient impetuosity, of the majority, he neither TROTS with one, or GALLOPS with the other; but, regardless of the distance, humanely walks his horse to the place of his destination, where he sees, or knows, he undergoes the attentive comforts so fully described under the last head.