em into the parlour after supper, where the carpet affording
their feet a firm hold, they would frisk, and bound, and play a thousand
gambols, in which Bess, being remarkably strong and fearless, was always
superior to the rest, and proved himself the Vestris of the party. One
evening, the cat, being in the room, had the hardiness to pat Bess upon
the cheek, an indignity which he resented by drumming upon her back with
such violence, that the cat was happy to escape from under his paws and
hide herself.

"You observe, sir, that I describe these animals as having each a
character of his own. Such they were in fact, and their countenances
were so expressive of that character, that, when I looked only on the
face of either, I immediately knew which it was. It is said that a
shepherd, however numerous his flock, soon becomes so familiar with
their features, that he can by that indication only distinguish each
from all the rest, and yet to a common observer the difference is hardly
perceptible. I doubt not that the same discrimination in the cast of
countenances would be discoverable in hares, and am persuaded that among
a thousand of them no two could be found exactly similar; a circumstance
little suspected by those who have not had opportunity to observe it.
These creatures have a singular sagacity in discovering the minutest
alteration that is made in the place to which they are accustomed, and
instantly apply their nose to the examination of a new object. A small
hole being burnt in the carpet, it was mended with a patch, and that
patch in a moment underwent the strictest scrutiny. They seem, too, to
be very much directed by the smell in the choice of their favourites; to
some persons, though they saw them daily, they could never be
reconciled, and would even scream when they attempted to touch them; but
a miller coming in, engaged their affections at once--his powdered coat
had charms that were irresistible. You will not wonder, sir, that my
intimate acquaintance with these specimens of the kind has taught me to
hold the sportsman's amusement in abhorrence. He little knows what
amiable creatures he persecutes, of what gratitude they are capable, how
cheerful they are in their spirits, what enjoyment they have of life,
and that, impressed as they seem with a peculiar dread of man, it is
only because man gives them peculiar cause for it.

"That I may not be tedious, I will just give you a short summary of
those articles