TO HOUNDS

Now attend me, Diana and the Nymphs, Pan, Orion, and the Satyrs, for I
have a task in hand which may hardly be accomplished without some divine
aid. And the lesson I would teach is one as to which even gods must
differ, and no two men will ever hold exactly the same opinion. Indeed,
no written lesson, no spoken words, no lectures, be they ever so often
repeated, will teach any man to ride to hounds. The art must come of
nature and of experience; and Orion, were he here, could only tell the
tyro of some few blunders which he may avoid, or give him a hint or two
as to the manner in which he should begin.

Let it be understood that I am speaking of fox-hunting, and let the
young beginner always remember that in hunting the fox a pack of hounds
is needed. The huntsman, with his servants, and all the scarlet-coated
horsemen in the field, can do nothing towards the end for which they are
assembled without hounds. He who as yet knows nothing of hunting will
imagine that I am laughing at him in saying this; but, after a while, he
will know how needful it is to bear in mind the caution I here give
him, and will see how frequently men seem to forget that a fox cannot be
hunted without hounds. A fox is seen to break from the covert, and men
ride after it; the first man, probably, being some cunning sinner, who
would fain get off alone if it were possible, and steal a march upon the
field. But in this case one knave makes many fools; and men will rush,
and ride along the track of the game, as though they could hunt it, and
will destroy the scent before the hounds are on it, following, in their
ignorance, the footsteps of the cunning sinner. Let me beg my young
friend not to be found among this odious crowd of marplots. His business
is to ride to hounds; and let him do so from the beginning of the run,
persevering through it all, taking no mean advantages, and allowing
himself to be betrayed into as few mistakes as possible; but let him
not begin before the beginning. If he could know all that is inside the
breast of that mean man who commenced the scurry, the cunning man who
desires to steal a march, my young friend would not wish to emulate
him. With nine-tenths of the men who flutter away after this ill fashion
there is no design of their own in their so riding. They simply wish to
get away, and in their impatience forget the little fact that a pack of
hounds is necessary for the hunting of a fox.

I have found myse