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©^« We coruider the Sporting World much indebted to
thote toho have eaiued the He-printing this Work; itt
style is excellent. Some of the Au1hor''s ideas may^ since
its first publication fM33J have been controverted^ or
become obsolete^ through the benefits of modern experience;
but good sense, combined with practical knowledge and a
playful fancy, are apparent in every subject which the
Author touches on, and we candidly express our belief,
that few modern volumes will afford the reader more
pleasure.^^ — Vide Sporting Magazine for April 1817.

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JOHNA.SEAVERNS

AN

ESSAY ON HUNTING.

CONTENTS.

PAGE.

Introduction 1

Hunting in general 6

Lawfulness 7

Benefits 12

Pleasure 16

Pastime 21

Game 27

Scent 30

Hounds 40

The Horse 46

Huntsman 48

Sagacity 63

AN

ESSAY ON HUNTING.

mumumwnmmmnmmMmnnMmnmnwumummMmmmmM
INTRODUCTION.

Remember when I was
a Boy I had conceived
an high Admiration of
thePeople going by the
Name of Authors ; and
took it for granted the
Person that was able
to make a Book, must
needs be a profound Schollard. But I have long since
laid aside that childish Prejudice ; am now con-
vinced by plentiful Instances that it requires no
greater Talents to write than to talk eternally ;
and that in scribbling as well as prattling, Vanity
and Vivacity go oftener to furnish out the Copia
Verhorum, than Learning and good Sense.

I have observed also some few other Causes of
the Effusion of Ink and Waste of Paper ; that Zeal
for a Party, flattering Men in power, Thirst after
Preferment, Envy at the Successful, the strange

Pleasures

[ 4 ]

Pleasures of justifying or palliating the Vices of the
Age ; the Pride of disgracing or overturning those
Principles that our wise Forefathers held for sacred,
and very often the Vapours of Idleness itself are the
means of bringing large Bundles to the Press.

No wonder then that the Torrent of Books and
Pamphlets so impetuous in this Generation, when
the Springs that feed it are so numerous and preg-
nant. If Vice, Vanity, Faction, Malice, Corrup-
tion and Avarice be Furniture for an Author, 'tis
marvellous there is yet Paper left for a little harm-
less Impertinence. Having therefore a few Thoughts
to communicate to the most inoffensive Class of my
Fellow-subjects, I think I have a Right to lay hold
on a few Sheets before the Stock is exhausted : And
I presume on Pardon from the loquacious World, if
among so many Treatises, Vindications, Replies, Jour-
nals, Craftsmen, Hyp-doctors and Lay-preachers,
the Press be borrowed a Day or two for a plain Essay
on the innocent Recreation of us Country Squires.

I could yet add some plausible Excuses for my
unexpected appearing as an Author. The Garrulity
natural to old age ; the tedious Hours that remain
upon my Hands when the Scent will not lie ; the
usual Importunity of Friends, 6fc. would be some
apology ; but I have one thing particular to say for
my self, that I have some small Acquaintance and
Experience in the Subject of which I treat. This
is a Circumstance little regarded by the judicious
Moderns. Be a Writer never so trifling or ignorant,
there are Readers enough of the same Class and Ge-
nius ; and, provided a Book has the Taste and Re-
lish suitable to the Times; the Justness of Sentiments,
the Truth of Observations, or the Solidity of Argu-
ments, are not enquired after. When a mody Writer
sets himself down with the important View of grati-
fying a Faction, flattering his Patron, or bustling
in among the Candidates for Preferment, Place, or

Pension ;

[ 5 ]

Pension ; when he dips his Pen with the laudable
Aim of letting the World know, that he is not of
a vulgar Genius, that he expects henceforth to be
lookt on as a Wit, a Free-thinker, or an Atheist ; in
such Case 'tis not a farthing-Matter what Theme or
Sentence he prefixes in his Title-page, nor how he
handles it; no, nor what Observations (so they be
surely remote enough from any Thing that is good)
he makes upon it. It is but getting the Bookseller,
a Friend, or an Enemy to declare of the Perfor-
mance, that it is prophane or seditious, that it is against
Virtue, against the Clergy, or against Christ, and
the Business is done : The Impression is bought off,
the Author renown'd, and (especially if it be well
answer'd or exposed) the Editions multiplyed.

But for my Part, I am not so ambitious of the Ap-
plause of ill Men, as to gratify their Palates at the
expence of my Innocence. I give my Chapmen
fairly to understand, that nothing is to be expected
in the following Pages to the Disgrace of Religion
or the Preachers of it. My Work is plain and rural
like its Author : My Science is gotten in the green
Fields, and has been my Study as well as Exercise
this 40 Years. I shall be strictly faithful in the Verity
of Facts, and tolerably modest in my Remarks and
Conclusions. I dedicate my Labours to my Bre-
thren Hunters^ and am only ambitious they and such
as they, may find something here that may instruct
or divert them.

Hunting in general.

"OERHAPS there is no greater Demonstration of
the Degeneracy of the present Age, than the Neg-
lect and Contempt of this Manly Exercise. Those
useful Hours that our Fathers employed on Horse-
back

I- ^ ]

back in the Fields, are lost to their Posterity betwixt
a stinking Pair of Sheets. Balls and Operas, Assem-
blies and Masquerades, ^ exhaust the Spirits of the
puny Creatures over Night, that Yawning and Cho-
colate are the main Labours and Entertainments of
the Morning. The important Affairs of Barber,
Milliner, Perfumer, and Looking- Glass are their Em-
ploy till the Call to Dinner ; and the Bottle or Ga-
ming-Table demand the tedious Hours that inter-
vene before the return of the Evening Assignations.
WJiat Wonder then, if such busy, trifling, effemi-
nate Mortals are heard to swear they have no notion
of venturing their Bodies out of Doors in the
cold Air of the Morning ? I have laughed heartily
to see such delicate Smock-faced Animals, judici-
ously interrupting their Pinches of Snuff with dull
Jokes upon Fox- Hunters ; and foppishly declaiming
against an Art they know no more of than they do
of Greek. It cannot be expected they should speak
well of a Toil they dare not undertake ; or that
ihejine Things should be fit to work without Doors,
which are of the Taylor's Creation.

But it must be confessed there are some Grecians
also, some learned Rabbles, who shoot out the Lip,
and bend the Brow at us servile, unaccountable Fol-
lowers of Dogs and Horses. But these also are full
as ignorant of the Subject they rail at, as the Beaus
or Ladies. For how can a poor vapoured splenetick
Pedant in Night-gown and Slippers, whose Spirits
are sunk, and Eyes por'd out over Indexes and
Common-places; whose Youth and Health have been
sacrificed to a distant Prospect of vain Titles and
Dignities, to the remote Expectation of puffing and
coughing out the dregs of Life over a Velvet
Cushion : I say. How can such a crazy Valetudi-
narian, form aright Judgment of a jovial Exercise,
whereof he has no Idea ? How can he speak in the
Praise of riding over Hills and Mountains, that

hardly

[ 7 J

hardly knows how to sit upon his Horse, or to
buckle on his Spurs ?

The Taste of the World is clearly altered. Avarice
and Ambition have taken Possession of the Hearts
of Men, who by Nature were qualified for more
innocent Pursuits: And those manly Toils which
laid the Foundations of Prowess and Glory in the
ancient Heroes, (such as Hercules, Ninus, Cyrus, Ro-
mulus, Tamerlain ; William the Conqueror of Eng-
land, Henry the Fourth of France, &c.) are now
exchanged for Sophistry and Quibbling, Briguing
and Flattery, Craft and Corruption, Stock-jobbing
and Place-Hunting.

But there is yet a Remnant, a small Remnant,
whose Souls are superior to these sordid Motives.
To such as these I address my Service : I shall
briefly persuade them of the Lawfulness and Bene-
fits of this noble Science ; and then present them
with a few Observations, that may probably con-
duce to their better Practice and Enjoyment of it.

La WF ULNE ss.

X^ID I write with a Design of increasing our
Society, I could nick the Business, by granting
all the Objections against Hunting; by admitting
it to be a brutish, barbarous, sinful Waste of pre-
cious Time, and a Persecution of innocent Crea-
tures ; contrary to the Laws of God and Nature.

Were such a Declaration to be found in our Bi-
bles, or maintained by a Bench of Orthodox Divines ;
we should soon unstock the Theatres and Assem-
blies, and go nigh to depopulate our gaudy Metro-
polis of its plus-beau Inhabitants. For the Iniquity
of the Thing would recommend it to Practice ; and
every Argument of its Unlawfulness, or Impiety,
would render it more Genteel ?ix\^ Fashionable. 'Tis

impossible

[ 8 ]

impossible to conceive what else could establish the
unparallel'd Enormities of the present Age ; or ex-
cite in rational Creatures such Desires as were un-
known to our Ancestors. Is there any Temptation
to make Choice of the Lord's-Day for Gaming,
Travelling, and running of Races, but the Ambi-
tion to excel in Irreligion and Prophaneness ? What
less Consideration can induce my Lord Feeble to
keep a Mistress that he has not strength to enjoy ;
or enflame the Heart of the Noble Damon with Lust
after his Neighbour's Wife, when he has one of his
own so much fairer and younger ? For what Rea-
son doth the eloquent Thraso lard his Declamations
with Oaths and Curses, were it not to demonstrate
that he fears not that Being, who has positively
declared not to hold him Guiltless ? And why does
Madam Haughty make it in her Articles to be mar-
ried at Midnight, and in a private Chamber, did it
not approach to the delicious Sin of the forbidden
Fruit ?

But it is not my Aim to increase our Numbers,
to the Destruction of the Game ; or to invite into
our Fraternity of Hunters, Men who are Enemies
to Virtue. I shall therefore leave such Reprobates
to their private Reflections, and not molest them in
running the Way after their new Inventions. The
Word I have to say is to my wiser Brethren, to
satisfy their Consciences in the Integrity of their
Doings; and to fortify them with an Answer to
aifected Objections against their innocent Diver-
sions.

The Destruction of ravenous Beasts of Prey will
not be envied us by our most querulous Opponents :
and for taking the others, I need only to mention
the large Sovereignty given to Adam, and the Com-
mission to Noah.

ObJ. But though it be lawful to hunt and destroy
the noxious Vermin, and tolerably justifiable to

seat

[ 9 ]

seat ourselves down to a Dish of Venison ; yet is
it not a barbarous and cruel Diversion, to persecute
a poor harmless, helpless Creature, over Hills and
Mountains, two or three Hours together, with a
bawling, terrifying Cry of Dogs at his Heels ;
which makes the Fright and Astonishment of the
Animal, a Thousand Times worse than Death it
self?

To this I answer. The tender-hearted Christians
who make this Objection, should first make it evident
that the irrational Animals are capable of Fear,
Fear is a human Passion, founded on Reason, accom-
panied with it, subservient to it. It was given to
Man, in order to excite his Obedience to his Maker;
and to put him upon thinking and devising Means
for his Safety and Deliverance in Time of Danger,
Persecution, or Temptation. But to bestow this
Passion where it must be useless and troublesome, on
a Creature \A^hich has no Sense of moral Evil, not
the least Notion of League or Society, no Thought
or Precaution (as I shall shew hereafter) to devise
Means of Defence or Preservation, is utterly un-
worthy an all-wise and merciful Creator. Were
the irrational Animals capable of Fear, the Hare is
the greatest Object of our Pity; and yet has God
made her for Destruction ? There is something so
delicious and attracting in her Flesh, that she is the
Game of every Carnivorous Animal. 'Tis well
known she has many more cruel and mortal Enemies
than fair Hunters; Enemies that spare her in no
Season or Circumstance ; and were it not for her
generous Foes of the Kennel, she would fall a Victim
to a more painful and dishonourable Death, and
perish by Inches, under the wrankling Jaws of
Kites or Ravens, Stotes or Polecats.

Obj. But would it not be more merciful to the
harmless Creatures to take them in a Trap, or to
shoot them in their Forms?

We

[ 10 ]

We Hunters say, the seizing a Hare in so base a
way, is downright Murder. 'Tis certainly contrary
to the Design of their Creation: For 'tis very plain
they were made to be hunted ; and that Hounds
have their Beings for no other Use or Purpose in
Nature, unless to take them in that delightful
manner. The former we behold most exquisitely
contrived for Flight, Swiftness, Scent and Sagacity :
The latter attracted by the odorous Effluvia of her
Feet and Body, with such an impetuous Eagerness,
and endued with such a particular Subtilty to inves-
tigate her Turns and Deviations, that it is hardly
a Question that the two Species were made for one
another.

What can be a more convincing Instance of God's
infinite Wisdom, or even of his Indulgence to the
Sons of Men, than the Formation of this Animal ;
which naturally flies from Creatures she never beheld
in her Life, makes use of the most refined Politicks
to escape their Pursuits (tho' she cannot foresee
whether they are the Effects of Love or Anger) and
yet is forced to leave behind her such Particles of
Matter as betray her Flight? Again, of how nice
and curious a Contexture must be the innumerable
Pores or Pipes of the Dogs Nostrils, which serve as
so many Sheaths or Canals to convey the said Par-
ticles to the Brains of the Beagles, there to animate
and put into motion every Limb, Joint and Muscle
of their Bodies? How excellent was the Hand that
furnished these Creatures with such tuneful Notes to
assemble their Fellows and give Tidings to their
Masters, with such an amazing Art to unravel the
various Windings of the Fugitive, with so relentless
Fury to pursue her to the Death? If this be Tyranny,
who is the Contriver? If this be barbarous and
contrary to Nature, the Lord of Nature must answ^er
for it.

But let us for the present answer for our selves.

Let

[ " ]

Let us allow the Objection its intended Force: Let
us be so very generous as to grant that a Hare has a
full Intelligence of her Enemies Designs, that she has
an Idea of Pain she never felt, a Sense and Terror of
approaching Death, and that she is able to make the
same Reflections we would ourselves in such a terri-
ble Juncture; I say, granting these modest Postu-
latums (and they must be granted, or taken for
granted before the Objection is of any Weight) I
would yet ask the finest Gentleman at the Opera,
the most timorous and tender Lady of the Court, if
they themselves were in the Circumstances of the
pitied Animal, would they be willing to be surprised
by bloody Assassins in the Dark, and to be shot dead
in their Beds; or would they not rather wish the
liberty of flying and hiding for Life, with a fair Chance
to escape their Pursuers and prolong their Days?

Obj. But there is yet another Objection ! How can
we answer so great an Apparatus, so chargeable an
Attendance of Dogs and Horses, so much Time and
Labour in running after a Dish of but Twelve- Penny
Value? In order to evade this tremendous Article, I
must divide my Adversaries, or at leeist challenge my
Jury. I therefore except against all Midnight Re-
vellers and Morning Snorters ; all Collegiate Drones,
Coffee-house Lowngers, and Butterfly-Chasers : I
crave leave to exclude all Gamesters, Fops, and Mas-
queraders; all Fidlers, Criticks, Poetasters, and hack-
ney Scribblers: all Tea- Table Haunters and Lady-
Hunters, as well as the whole Fraternity of the Gui-
nea-Ordinary, the Toupee and Clock-Stocking; I say
I except against all these, and humbly insist, that
before they be admitted to sit in Judgment on our
Time and Expences, they first prepare their own
Journals or Diaries, and give a true and punctual
Account of those precious Hours that have slid before
their Eyes, and those weighty Sums that have past
through their Fingers, and let them shew that their

Talents

[ 12 ]

Talents are better employ'd than those of us rural
Fox-Hunters.

Having thus dispatch'd a very great Majority,
from the Remnant I hope for a favourable Hearing.
The thrifty Merchant will freely give up his Title
to all the Game bred upon our Lands, provided he
can have but a peaceable fingering of their more
staple Products; the Farmer will welcome us with
Hat in one Hand and Gate in the other, as long as
we invite him to feast at Christmas, and pay a good
Price for his Corn consumed in our Kennels and
Stables ; the Parsons will encourage us in this Ex-
ercise of the Body, for the spiritual Advantage of
being kept out of the way of Hereticks and Infidels
by better Company ; and our Wives themselves will
prudently consider us as taking Physick without
fouling the House, as making Provision for hale and
lasting Constitutions, and for a vigorous Posterity.

mummuMmmMmmmwmnmmmmmmmmmmmmummmmmn

Benefits.

T SHALL therefore among the Benefits of the Chase
give the first place to Health.

" Better to hunt in Fields for Health unbought,
" Than fee the Doctor for a nauseous Draught."

The Wholsomeness of this Exercise is so univer-
sally acknowledg'd, that it is common Subject with
the Poets : who, tho' their beloved Town most plen-
tifully supplies them with Matter for their Satires,
and Tools for their Flatteries, yet as often as they
are inclin'd to embellish their Writings with real
Praise, or Descriptions of any thing beautiful or de-
licious, are forc'd to lay their Scenes in the Country ;
and though most of those who have undertaken pom-
pously to describe the Chace, are as ignorant of their
Subject as the Philosopher who offer'd to instruct
Alexander in the Art of War, yet thus far they are

all

[ 13 ]

all unanimous in the right, in recommending it as
the most healthy Exercise in the World.

'Tis a plain Case that Gentlemen of Fortunes and
Estates to maintain them will not work, and equally
certain that if they will not work, they must play
vigorously or die miserably. A Man that eats and
drinks like an Englishman, and uses no Labour, ren-
ders above half his Muscles useless ; his Joints turn
like old rusty Hinges, his Glands and Strainers are
loaded and obstructed with Dregs and Corruption ;
his whole Carcass becomes a Bog or Quagmire, and
nothing but the Gout or some such Distemper, can
be hoped for to his Relief, to drain the Crudities and.
stagnant Humours, and prolong a painful useless
Life. 'Tis possible I confess for some w^ho have na-
turally strong Constitutions to reprieve themselves a
while by periodical Bleeding, Purging, Blistering, Vo-
miting, and Issues quantum sufficit (these my honest
Parson, a great Joker, tho' very sober, and orthodox,
calls XheExercises of the three great Cs, Cities, Colleges,
and Cathedrals.^ But how loathsome and detestable is
such artificial Filthiness ? How horrid is the Course
of driving the Excrements thro' unnatural Channels?
How foggy, unwieldy, phthisicky and helpless are
such crazy Mortals, when the Affairs of their Families
or the Service of their Country demand their Appli-
cation? Nay, what a sluggish, stupid, splenetick,
effeminate, insipid Posterity may be justly expected
from such rotten Sources? 'Tis no wonder so many of
our ancient Families are extinct, or degenerated into
Pigmies and Milksops: What would be the Case if
the decay 'd Blood were not now and then recruited by
ajolly, sanguine. Country Heiress; or did notthe wise
Ladies providently mend the Breed of their Families
by the wholesome Succour of a well built Attendant ?

In past Generations, in the Times of the Peircies,
Warwicks, and Talbots, when our English Nobility
thought themselvesnotabovetheUseof Arms ; when

they

[ 14 J

they valued themselves on personal Prowess ; when
their principal Delights were Jousts and Tourna-
ments ; when they strove to gain the Hearts of the
Ladies by bravely layingtheir Rivals on their Backs;
when they combated Diseases, as well as open Ene-
mies, with shield and broad Sword ; when they pu-
rified their Blood by toilsome Marches, by lying in
the Camp, and sweating under heavy Armour: What
Feats of Arms do we then read of ? What personal
Bravery was in those Times to be seen in our noble
Ancestors ? How common was it for a Champion of
60 or 70 by his single Arm to give Terror to a Squa-
dron, or to make Lanes among a Legion of French-
men? With what Health and Vigour did they then
return Home to the Arms of their Consorts; what
hopeful, rosy, jolly Branches were seen round their
Tables ; what martial Heroes, Inheritors of their
Virtues, did they leave to their Country ?

This was the certain and natural Effect of manly
Exercise ; of looking after their Farms, Plantations
and Improvements ; of freeing their Country from
pernicious Vermin in Times of Peace, and personally
defending it with Spear and Battle- Ax from the In-
vasions of its Enemies : They improved the Strength
and Activity of their Nerves by tossing the Bar, and
vaulting on the Backs of their prancing Coursers ;
they harden'd their Constitutions by Cold and Hun-
ger, and dispell'd the Vapours of the Evening's In-
dulgence by the Toils of the Morning ; they needed
no Cordial but the fresh reviving Balsams of the Air,
no Cold Bath but the Breezes of the Mountains, nor
had they (after fasting till the Business or Pleasure of
the Day was over) the least occasion to unload their
Stomachs by a poisonous Vomit ; their Glands were
drained thro' every Pore of their Skin, their Lungs
were open'd by vigorous Pursuit after their Enemies
or their Game ; their Joints retained the Activity of
Youth by constant Motion ; every Fibre of their

Muscles

[ 15 ]

Muscles had his turn to be new strung, screw'd up
and turi'd by variety of Posture and Employ.

But all this is too rigid and violent, too vulgar and
clownish for our modern Quality; such delicate Skins
are fitter for Perfumes than Dust and Sweat! They
have generously resigned every painful Employment
to us rural Squires,. Fox-hunters, and Farmers! To
us then must they come for Champions to defend
them in the Field; from us must they recruit their
fighting Armies as well as their Courts and Councils;
'tis here they must be supply'd as often as there is
occasion of a clear Head or a vigorous Hand, of Ex-
pedition, Resolution, Strength or Valour.

Everyone observes that the Fogs, Vapours, or Dis-
eases of the Body, cast a Mist, Biass, and Poverty
on the Mind ; that the Health, Strength, and Sound-
ness of the former is communicated to the latter; and
consequently that the only fit Person both for Advice
and Execution is the lively Sportsman. Who so likely
to gain a Rampart or mount an Intrenchment, as he
whose long Practice has been scaling the Fortifica-
tions of Meadows and Inclosures? Who so proper to
manage his Horse with Address and Intrepidity in
time of Action, as he whose Trade and Occupation
is leaping over Five-bar Gates, Hedges, |i,nd Stone
Walls? Habit and Experience qualifies the Fox-
hunter for the Sap, or for the Storm, to unkennel, or
to pursue ; long Custom has made him acquainted
with all sorts of Ground, with Hills and Vallies,
Morasses and Desarts, Streights and Precipices;
has enabled him to excel in March or Forage, in
Ambush or Surprize, in Attack or Retreat.

I remember the Time of the Revolution, when our
great Deliverer the Prince of Orange landed in the
West; at the critical Juncture he was at the utmost
loss for Conveyance of his heavy Baggage and Artil-
lery; he had then about him renowned Generals
(himself the greatest) and mighty Numbers of Cour-

B tiers

[ 16 ]

tiers and Nobility came flocking to him ; but that
one Difficulty put them all to a Stand, nor was there
an Engineer learned enough to encounter the Obsta-
cles they felt from the Narrowness of the Roads and
the want of Draught-horses: At last the brave Bur-
rington (one of the greatest Hunters in England)
waited on his Highness ; (like a God in the Scene)
he unty'd the Knot, and devised an Expedient, an
Expedient on which the Celerity of the March and
the Safety of the three Kingdoms almost entirely de-
pended. I was many years afterwards in a Compa-
ny of young jolly Fellows with the same Old Hero
(some Years past his grand Climacterick) and had
the Pleasure to hear him challenge a Fall with any
one of the Company. How many Beau, Standing-
Army^ Spit-Frog Commission-Officers ('o;o< wv ijpdr.oi
rial') would he at that Age have driven to Market
with his single Hunting-Pole?

mmmmMMmmmMMmuMmmMmmnummunmmmmmnio^mu

Plea sure.

TfN shewjpg my Readers the Pleasures of the Chace,
-*- I am very diffident of giving satisfaction! For as
on one Side the verd Adeptij who have a true Goust
and Relish of their Art, will think the strongest Words
or Metaphors I can invent to be far short of a lively
Description ; so every Touch that does but approach
to Nature or Verity, will be treated by the Ignorant
as incredible or ridiculous. Poor Souls, 'tis the Pearl
to the Roost-Cock!

What Pleasure can there be in riding Whip and
Spur after a bawling Pack of Dogs, says my Lord
Fopling ? What Satisfaction can be felt iu sweating a
whole Day after a Twelve-Penny Purchase, says the
Miser and Stockjobber? What Ambition is gratified
in the Conquest of a Hare, or the Slaughter of a Fox,

says

[ 17 ]

says the fawning Courtier? These are weighty Ques-
tions ; I desire them therefore severally to accept of
these weighty Answers. First, here is Joy without
Guilt or Repentance. Secondly, here is a savoury
Dish, and a Stomach to digest it, without Lying or
Knavery. Thirdly, here is Ambition indulg'd with-
out Envy, Corruption, or servile Flattery.

The Pleasures of this World consist in Imagina-
tion, in raising the Spirits to a warm Expectation ;
and in gratifying the Desires by Fruition of the
Object. Let any Man behold with what Joy and
Triumph the Hunter returns after a successful
Chace ! Hearken with what Transports he recounts
his Adventures! See the Gaiety and Good-nature
that shine in his Face and season his Conversation!

ObJ. But is not all this doating on Trifles, and
being captivated with Baubles?

Trifles and Baubles are all the Pleasures of this
transitory State; but not always innocent. Consi-
der, and compare the more celebrated Enjoyments
of rational Creatures, so earnestly pursued, and so
dearly paid for. The overthrow of an Army, or
the taking of a Town, exalts the General to the
Stars; though purchased by the Murder of Ten
Thousand Innocents, and followed by the Tears of
Widows and Orphans. What Shouts do we hear at
the distancing a Horse, or Fall of a Game-Cock,
though the Heart of their Masters have been aching
for Fear, the whole Time of the Heat or Combat;
and though they are bitterly sensible that, the next
Adventure, Fortune may strip them of their Gains
and Triumphs? In what a childish Extacy is the
Gamester at the lucky Fall of a Die; though he
cannot but be conscious the next Cast or two, may
make him a Beggar? But the chearful Huntsman
makes IVar without a Tax; conquers without a
Groan ; has no Stake to lose ; and if his Expedi-
tion is less prosperous to Day, he assures himself of

B 2 Victory

[ 18 ]

Victory and Revenge the next fair Weather. A
whimsical Fellow of my Acquaintance, laying out
his Rhetorick in Praise of his Profession, would
commonly compare running down a Hare to the
courtitig a Mistress; and merrily run a long Paral-
lel betwixt the Doublings and Dodgings of the for-
mer, and the Coquetries of the latter. He was one
Day talking in this mad Strain, when a French Gen-
tleman sitting by, that had been a general Courtier
'till the 48th Year, and had just six Weeks before
resi^n'dhis Liberty to a jolly ^/z^/z's^ Widow, pray'd
him to add this Circumstance to his Comparison,
that (in both) the Pursuit is much the greatest Part
of the Pleasure. However (says Monsieur, with
a heavy sigh) Dhre is a tres-grand difference in the
End of de Shaise ; for in Pursuit after de Lady, de
Hunter himself is de plus often caught.

But to return to my Subject. How far will Men
travel, what Labour will they take, to be only
Spectators of Trials of Skill? This bare Curiosity
has a greater Attachment for inquisitive Mortals
than even Duty or Interest. Why else did the learned
Athenians, and almost every Grecian, leave his Af-
fairs, and run a gazing at the Olympick Games?
Why did the Ancient Heroes, Princes and Emperors,
take so great Delight in gladiatory Shews, fighting
of wild Beasts, Wrestlings and Boxings? Why do
such Crowds of our present Nobility, Scholars, Mer-
chants, Mechanicks, Clowns, and even Ladies,
hurry away with such Eagerness and Precipitation,
to see (or be seen at) every Horse-Race or Cudgel-
playing? What is all this for, but the bewitching
Curiosity of beholding (or often only hearing
others say) who performed best; what Art, Ad-
dress, Activity, or Courage, was shewn by the
Contenders?

But yet, after all, how horrid a Spectacle is that
of breaking of human Limbs, bruising their Noses,

or

[ 19 ]

or letting out their Guts? How trifling and tran-
sient is the momentary Joy of just glancing an Eye
on two or three Dwarfs in silken Doublets, flying
by on Horseback ? What Comfort can the Ladies
themselves feel in the bare Prospect of a pair of Run-
ning-Footmen, (though as naked &.s> they were born)
when the Throng is so great they are not able to
come near them ? li innocent Curiosity has any Charms
for these sprightly Heroines, let them mount their
Palfreys in a pleasant Morning ; let them feast their
beautiful Eyes with the Prospect of the verdant
Fields, and the shady Groves ; let them lend their
Ears to the soft Flatteries of the whispering Ze-
phirs, and the charming Musick of the tuneful Bea-
gles ; let them shew their Vigor by following the
Game ; and please their Fancies with the View of
the nicest and most vigorous Trials of Skill and Cou-
rage. There shall they behold the glad Squires, on
their gallant Coursers, every one ambitious with
joyful Face to shew his Activity, and to recom-
mend an able and healthy Body to their Ladyship's
Approbation. There shall they discern each Dog
as ambitiously striving to excel in the Acuteness of
his Nostrils, the Swiftness of his Heels, and in Sub-
tilty to unravel the intricate Labyrinths of the
timorous Hare : And with what Pleasure may they
observe the feeble Fugitive casting them behind by
the Nimbleness of her Flight ; puzzling them with
the most politick Shifts and Devices, and putting
a Hundred Tricks upon them to interrupt their
Pursuit, and bring them to a Loss ?

The Vulgar cannot have the least Notion of these
noble Entertainments. These Things are above the
Apprehension of those who inhabit blind Allies and
dark Piazza's ; who smell no Air but what is im-
pregnated with the Fumes of Pissing-Corners and
Close-stools ; nor draw a Breath but what has past
and repast a Hundred times through the Bowels

of

[ 20 ]

of Porters, Bawds and Beggars. Our wise Citizens
have very prudently ordained the Morning for
Sleeping : Since he that is first up, and abroad in the
Streets, is sure to be treated with a Thousand
Prospects of the Hesternce Crapulce. But foh ! let us
return to the delicious Country.

I wish our morose Philosophers could but once be
Witnesses of the Gladness I have often diffused
through a whole Parish by a Visit with my Cry !
Poor fainting Puss having in vain made Trial of
the Hills and Heath-Fields, at last ventures to ex-
pose her Fortune to the High -ways and Villages.
The Pack follows with full Mouth, making the
Tower and Chimneys eccho to the tuneful Melody.
At the inchanting Sound, what single Soul does not
forget every other Call of Mammon or the Flesh,
and (throwing down his Food, his Tools, or his
very Prayer-Book) run out to partake ? The Thre-
sher in his Shirt and reeden Fillet, hastily exposes
the open Barn to the Pigs and Poultry : The
whistling Ploughman drops his Tune, and leaves his
Cattle staring at the Tumult : And the Taylor fol-
lows after, Slipshoed and Hatless, with his Thread
over his Shoulder. The Schoolboy flies from the
hated Bellfrey to the top of the Tower : The old
Women hobble out three Steps beyond the Door,
before they think on their Crutches; and even the
Parson of the Parish (though the gravest Man
alive) mounts the old Pacer ; and, if he can but
keep in upon the Canterbury, is so gay and youthy,
as to join his Halloo in Chorus with the Boys.
Such a Moment is able to bring him back from
Sixty to Eighteen. I was lately in a Company of
very wortliy People, where we had the Pleasure
of a small Consort of Musick ; a good Hand on
the Violin, and a young Lady (esteemed a top
Mistress) sung and play'd on a very fine Harpsi-
cord. 'Tis the Fashion (you know) for every one to

com-

[ 21 ]

commend ; and the most insensible Auditor, for fear
of discovering- his own Ignorance, must seem to be
in Raptures. The Lady performed to Admiration ;
one stared; another talked of Angels, and the
Spheres ; a third wept ; a fourth was ready to drop
into a Trance ; At last a very honest Gentleman
that sat by in a musing Posture, having his Ears
shaken with a longer and louder Quiver than ordi-
nary, look'd abroad, and gave me a Nod and Wink,
with this ingenious remark ; By jingo I never heard
any thing better, hut a Cry of Dogs ; she draws out
her Note like my old Toler. The Lady, herself,
was not tmacquainted with the Attractions of Hunt-
ing; and (as she told me afterwards) she was more
proud of this honest sincere Compliment from
Tolefs Master, than of all the rest she received on
the Occasion.

mmmmMmmmmmmmmnMmummmmwmmuMMmmmnmwm

Pastime.

^jPHIS I distinguish from Pleasure; because,
though there is no Pleasure but passes the
Time, yet, there are many Means of passing away
Time, that are hardly pleasant, but rather tedious
or criminal.

In what particular Employments or Recreations
the Sons of Adain were to have spent their Hours,
(more than in the constant Praises of the Creator)
had they not fallen from Paradise, I shall leave to
the Descriptions of those who have the best Notions
of fine delicious Gardens ; or who are acquainted
with the Elysian Fields of the Poets. But upon
swallowing the fatal Bait, and tainting the Blood
of all Generations by the Leaven of Disobedience,
it was immediately denounced (no less for our Se-
curity against future Temptation, than for Punish-
ment

[ 22 ]

merit for past Transgression) that of the Sweat of
our Brows we should eat our Bread. To ratify this
Sentence, did Almighty Wisdom not only incumber
the Land we inhabit with Weeds and Vermin ;
with a constant Necessity of draining, watering,
turning, cleansing, dressing, and all sorts of labo-
rious Improvementsi; but has providentially suf-
fered us, by our own Follies, so to entangle, per-
plex and disorder the Affairs of Societies, Cities and
Kingdoms ; that there is no Person who really wants
Employment in the World ; not one that (without
Neglect of Duty and Interest) can be truly idle.

By the original Grant the good Things of the
Earth are common to its Inhabitants, with Obliga-
tion to labour and with Right to enjoy ; and it is
the Aim and Nature of the Christian Dispensation to
restore us to that just and blessed Equality. But these
perfect Rules can never be practised by imperfect
sinful Creatures ; and whilst the Appetites of the
corrupt Flesh will prevail on some to be lazy, waste-
ful, greedy, and rapacious, there arises a necessity
of intervening Laws to secure the Product of better
Mens Labours, to make those Goods and Possessions
our Property, which were acquired by the Industry
of ourselves or our Ancestors. From hence it is evi-
dent how vast Treasures and large Estates came into
the Possession of some Persons and Families; and
such Possessors are commonly the Envy of the poor
Labourer and Mechanick, as Men who are exempt
from the Toils of Life, who have nothing to do, or
who are able to afford to live idle.

But this is a great Mistake of the Vulgar ! 'Tis
true, rich Men have Servants enough to do their
Drudgery, but those very Servants are Employments
for their Masters. Let no Man be envied for want
of Trouble and Business who has a large Family to
wait upon, provide for, and keep in order ! If this
is not enongh, let it be remember'd also, that Part

of

[ 23 ]

of every Gentleman's Time is due to his Country ;
to the Defence of that Society, whereof he is a Mem-
ber, against foreign Enemies or Invaders ; to the
improving. Execution, and Maintenance of those
Laws and Constitutions, from whence he has his
Protection for so large a Peculiar. There is yet
another Employment of Time, that was formerly
thought more particularly incumbent on the Great
and Prosperous ; that is, to remember their Creator,
to adore his Goodness, to enquire into his Will, to
make him constant daily Acknowledgments for his
abundant Mercies, and to shew a grateful Sense of
his Favours, by a generous Protection of the Weak
and Innocent, by Works of Charity and universal
Benevolence. But all this is now obsolete !

These are indeed fine Things to talk of, but they
are not to be practised ! They are perfectly out of
Fashion, ridiculous, intolerable / It cannot be expected
in this re^w'f/^ge that Persons of high Quality, great
Wit, and polite Education, should be such odd Crea-
tures, as to say their Prayers, or give their Atten-
dance to religious Assemblies ; that they should find
a Time to look into their Bibles, to concern them-
selves with the Necessities of the profane Vulgar, or
to enquire into the Affairs of their Tenants, their
Families, or their Fellow Christians !

Seeing then Circumstances so stand, that to be a
fine Gentleman, a Man must by no means employ
himself in any thing that is good ; I will only advise
him to find out a Pastime that is in itself indif-
ferent ; for meer Idleness is the Parent of Mischief :
one who has nothing to do is expos'd to every Temp-
tation, and stands at Sale (like a Beast in the Mar-
ket) to the first Bidder, the World or the Devil. 1
would therefore allow our mody Ladies to dedicate
a full third of their Time to Basset or Quadrille, upon
condition they do not run so deep as to spoil their
Beauty by blubbering or scolding, nor expose them-
selves

[ 24 ]

selves to a necessity of paying their Debts of Honour
by dishonouring their Husbands. I would contentedly
cohipound with Doctors and Dignitaries, Fellows of
Houses, and Noblemens' Chaplains, to kill a good
Quantity of their tedious Hours at Back -Gammon,
or in burning Tobacco, provided they would be so
civil to pay their Compliments to their Mother the
Church on the more so/emw Occasions, and to make no
publick Profession of Opinions contrary to those they
have sworn to and subscribed, and by which they /ire.
And who would deny a Country Squire to secure
his Health by the Diversions of the Field, if he would
but take care not to be too free with the Punch-Bowl
afterwards ? If we did not Hunt (as a good Woman
of 80 said in excuse of her Matrimony) we should do
worse ! For Men void of all Occupation, have (like
the Pigs) nothing fo do but to study Mischief. Our
learned Divines may talk of carnal Appetites and
Affections, as long as they please, I can never believe
but the Seed of all Iniquity is in the Mind; in that
Part resides the Ferment of original Sin; our Bodies
would be quiet and regular enough if we did not teaze
and provoke them into Action by our vicious Imagi-
nations ? What else can make an Old Miser that
wallows in Riches, covetous after more? What other
Reason can we give that our Species is disgrac'd by
so many impotent Lechers, feeble Gluttons, and
gray-bearded Flatterers for Title and Preferment ?
How could the Sons of Men be so much worse than
the irrational Beasts, did not that thinking Faculty
that should guide them lead them astray ?

I would therefore advise every genteel Britton to
contrive Employment for his leisure Hours. To the
want of this are justly imputed the many new and
monstrous Enormities of the Times ; they are the
natural consequence ofthemody Fancy of our Gentry
have lately taken into their Heads, to spend their
Days and their Estates in London,io reside in a Place

where

[ 25 ]

where they can have nothing to do but to enquire
after new Follies and Vices, and study new Debau-
cheries. A blunt Old Neighbour of mine, of good
Sense and Substance (tho' not very well skill'd in the
Mysteries of Government) was used to curse the
Members of the last Pari — t for being so long doing
their Business; and often tells Sir Ti^owiastohisFace,
that he will spoil his Wife and Children by letting
them become so well acquainted with the idle City.
In the same rough way he talks of the Army, and
says he stands more in fear of the Idleness they
spread than of the Arms they carry. And one Day
upon reading the acute Walsingham, he threw
down his Pipe, and with some Passion, says he, A
standing Army in an Island in time of Peace, is no
less absurd than a Pack of Dogs on Shipboard.

Here I would fain have interpos'd and distinguish'd

a little But he would go on in his hasty way to

declaim against Idleness, to maintain that to be the
Spring and Foundation of all our Corruptions; that
hence was deriv'd so much Vice and Immorality, Pro-
fan eness and Sedition, Libels against the King, Blas-
phemies against God. " What else (quoth he) engen-
" ders our noisy Politicians and pretended Patriots,
" but lying out of Business? What would become of
" our Devisers of Novelty and Reformers of Religion,
" hadthey Creditor Capacity to get into Employment,
" either in Church or State!"

It was not my Design to enter into dispute with
my warm Neighbour, especially in Politicks ; but I
was forc'd to admit it as a serious Truth, that it must
be too much Leisure that raises up so many imperti-
nent Scribblers against a Religion which tends to the
Happiness of social Creatures ; against an Establish-
ment that binds or burdens those only who live by it ;
that indulges the Scruples and Absence of such as
approve it not ; that patiently hears itself abused and
reviledhy Men that knownotwhat they say, nor whereof

they

[ 26 ]

they affirm. Strange Undertaking ! Monstrous Indus-
try ! Did their Style or way of arguing discover Re-
flection or Penetration enough to justify the Suspi-
cion, I should imagine them to be Papists and Jesuits
in disguise; for 'tis obvious to any one, that from
Infidelity to Popery, from no Religion to the Reli-
gion of Violence, is a very natural and necessary
Transition.

But I say I would rather charitably hope that all
these Bundles of profane Impertinence is only for
want of better Employment. Our Gentry especially
of the unbelieving Gang (for the wretched Hackney
Scribblers, who rail and lie for a cast Garment or Bel-
ly-full of Porter, are not worthy notice) our Quality,
I say, having the Misfortune of Estates provided to
their Hands, and wanting Spirits for more manly
Diversions, haveno way to make themselves talk'd
of or distinguish'd but by turning Authors. As want
of Business puts them upon scribbling, so want of
Genius obliges them to scribble on such Subjects as
will relish with the Age, without Sense or Learning.

Or perhaps such Writing all this while is but a
Distetnper, and has its mechanical Causes ! The Va-
pours, that Nature design'd to be discussed by whol-
some Exercise, arise togetherwiththe Stenches of the
City into their Pericraniums, and there so heat and
delude their Imaginations, that the distracted
Wretches (like a Preacher I once heard in the Hos-
pital oiMoorfields,^ come to fancy themselves Lights
or Lanthorns, and hold themselves out with great
Charity to all those (and enough such there are) who
are at Leisure to harken to their incoherent Rhapso-
dies. Madmen there have been in all Ages! But
what Denomination, what Place shall we assign to
Churchmen themselves who are of this raving Num-
ber? What can those plead for themselves before the
just Tribunal of God or Man, those who lay hold on
Offices and Preferments upon solemn Oaths, Articles

and

[ 27 ]

and Conditions subscribed and sworn to, who after-
wards renounce those Articles and Conditions, and
yet fraudulently retain and riot in the annex'd Pre-
ferments? Not Bedlam, but Bridewell.

How much is it to be wish'd that such bold Vio-
lators of Law and Conscience had been brought up
to spend their Fury in only transgressing Gates and
Hedges? How much better had such Lungs and Ta-
lents been em ploy 'd in hallooing, and winding the
Horn? How happy had it been for themselves and
their Country, had their Ambition been gratify 'd
with the chief Command over the Kennel or Stable?

Game.

nnHERE is certainly something noble and he-
roick in hunting the wild Boar, the Tyger,
and the Lion ; but w^e inhabit an Island wherein
Art and Activity are more requisite to the Huntsman
than Strength of Body, and where Safety must com-
pensate for want of Glory.

The principal Games of Great Britain are the
Deer, the Fox, the Hare, the Otter, the Badger, and
Martin ; iho' the three last of these would hardly de-
serve the Honour of being hunted, were they not in
season in the Spring of the Year, when the poor Hare
ought to be in peace to multiply her Species, and
were not our young Gentlemen contented to play
at a small Game rather than stand idle.

There are Authors before me on this Subject, who
have with accurate Judgment and great Learning de-
scribed the Pursuit after each of the Animals above
mention'd, and been so particular as to lay down at
large the Terms of Art, the ways of finding, reco-
vering, and taking each distinct Species ; as well as
the Kinds and Marks of the Dogs proper to be cho-
sen

[ 28 ]

sen for the different Games ; to such therefore I refer
my Readers, it being my Design to repeat very little
of other Men's Labours, and not to enlarge on To-
picks that every Green-Coat Officer understands, or
at least pretends to do it, better than myself.

The Stag, I confess, is a noble Prize ! and as the
taking it requires a large Pack of Dogs, the very best
of Horses, and a great Expence, to the Nobility and
Men of Noble Estates I have long since resign'd it.
The Pursuit after the Fox is also violent, and rather
fit for those youthful Heroes who glory in breaking
the Hearts of their Horses, and venturing their own
Necks. The Flight of these two Animals is swift,
and (tho' they make some few Heads and Turnings)
most commonly in strait Lines towards a Place of Re-
fuge at some distance ; the Scent they leave is gene-
rally so high, that the Pack (though ever so well
match'd) is forc'd to follow after two or three strong
winded Leaders in a straggling yelping String, and
the Horsemen are cast, tho' ever so well mounted ;
by this means the Musick is broken, the Art of the
Huntsman of little Use, and the Pleasure of those
who design'd to be Spectators, dwindles into Enqui-
ries, which way went the Dogs ? However, as these
Games afford an Opportunity to our generous Youth
to shew the Courage, to boast of the Performance
of themselves and their Horses, and to excel one
another in Feats of Activity ; as the Preservation of
Lambs or Geese is an Act of Charity to the honest
Farmer; and as a Venison- Pasty is a savoury Orna-
ment to my Lady's Table, I would by no means
depreciate the Triumphs obtain'd by our gallant
Nimrods in the Conquest of such Beasts.

Yet I hope for Pardon from my more sprightly
Brethren, if I give my Vote for the Innocent Hare
above all other Game. The Transports of every mor-
tal Breast at the sight of that little Quadruped is no
less amazing than unaccountable, and has often made

me

[ 29 ]

me inclin'd to imagine she has some hidden mecha-
nical attractive Power over Man as well as Beast;
whatever it be, it ought to be a constant Motive of
Gratitude to the indulgent Creator, that hasfurnish'd
us with this Physick, so delicious to the Taste, as well
as salutary in Effect. Let the Philosopher, the grave
Stoick himself be present at the tracing and unravel-
ling the Morning Walk, and see this subtle abscond-
ing Creature suddenly starting in view of the whole
Cry, and he shall feel a Passion that all his affected
Apathy cannot cover, an evptjKa that all his most luc-
ky Discoveries could never equal ! Let the most mo-
rose and incredulous Sceptick suffer himself to be per-
suaded to ride the Chace, or but to stand on an Emi-
nence and observe the perplexing Shifts and Wiles
of the Flyer and Pursuers, and he must be convinc'd
that God's Providence is over all his Works, that the
minutest and vilest Parts of the Creation have been
the Care and Contrivance of infinite Wisdom! The
Swiftness andSubtilty of this incomparable Creature
demonstrate that she was made to give us Pleasure,
with purpose to tempt us into the wholesome Fields :
The Doubles and Indentures she is perpetually ma-
king, argues a Design in their great Creator that
every Hound should come in to bear a Part of the
Chorus, that each should have an Opportunity of
shewing his Acuteness and Policy in the Pursuit;
and the Tours and Rings she naturally traverses and
repeats over the same Ground, gives an Advantage
to every one of the Company to enjoy their Share,
even Old Men and Maidens.

The Chace after the Fox or Stag is violent, and
little more than riding and running! But the Hare
displays the very Art of Hunting, she affords a Plea-
sure worthy of a Philosopher, a Curiosity that may
justly raise the Admiration of the wisest Statesman,
Physician, or Divine. Let the most learned and in-
quisitive Naturalist dissect the Carcase of this feeble

Animal.

[ 30 ]

Animal, let him carefully trace every Sinew and
Muscle, let him note the Smallness of her Head and
Neck, the Fullness and Prominency of her Eyes, the
Leanness of her Shoulders, the Depth of her Chest,
the Largetiess of her Heart and Lungs, the Strength
of her Joints, the Hardness of her little Bones, the
firm Braces of her Back, the Slenderness of her Belly,
the portable Shape of her Paps or Udders, the Mea-
sure of her Ears, the Firmness of her Gaskins, the
superior Length of her hinder Legs, the Obscurity of
her Colour, and the inimitable Contexture of her
Feet ; and let him then declare the Causes and Ends
of this wonderful Formation ; let them dare to say she
could have been form'd better in any one Part to
qualify her for lying hid in her Form, for Nimble-
ness of Flight, for holding out against her Foes, or
for giving Pleasure to Man.

mmnmmmwummmmmwmmmmmwmmmmuMMMmmMmuM

Scent.

A BO VE all other Things, the Scent has been ever
■^ my Admiration : The Bulk, Size, Figure, and
other Accidents or Qualities of these Parts or Por-
tions of Matter that discharge themselves from the
Bodies of these Beasts of Game, are Subjects
much fitter for the Experiments and learned De-
scants of a Philosopher, than a simple Huntsman.
Whether they are to be considered as an extraneous
Stock or Treasure of Odoriferous Particles given
them by divine Wisdom, for the very Purpose of
Hunting? Whether they are proper identical Parts
of the Animal's Body, that continually ferment and
perspire from it? Whether these Exhalations are
from the Breath of her Lungs, or through the Skin
of her whole Body, are Questions also that deserve
the Subtilty of a Virtuoso. But such Observations

as

[ 31 ]

as long Experience has suggested to me, I shall,
in the plainest manner I am able, lay before my
Readers.

That these Particles are inconceivably small, is
(I think) manifest from their vast Numbers. I have
taken hundreds of Hares, after a Chase of two,
three, four or five Hours, and could never perceive
the least difference in Bulk or Weight, from those
I have seized or snapt in their Forms : Nor could I
ever learn from Gentlemen who have hunted Basket
Hares, that they could discover any visible waste
in their Bodies, any farther than may be supposed
to be the effect of discharging their grosser Excre-
ments. But supposing an Abatement of two or
three Grains, or Drams, after so long a Fatigue ;
yet how minute and almost infinite must be the
Division of so small a quantity of Matter, when it
affords a Share to so many Couple of Dogs, for
eight, ten, or twelve Miles successively ? Deducting
at the same Time, the much greater Numbers of
those Particles, that are lost in the Ground, dissipated
in the Air, extinguished and obscured by the fetid
Perspirations of the Dogs, and other Animals ; or
by the very Fumes and Exhalations of the Earth
itself. That these Particles are subject to such Dis-
sipation or Corruption, every Sportsman knows ;
for as none of them will retain their Odour after a
certain proportionable Time ; so it is daily evident
that this time of their Duration is very obnoxious to
the Vicissitudes of the Weather ; that the Scent of
the Animal (as well as her more solid Flesh) will
lose its sweetness sooner or later, according to the
Disposition of the ambient Air. I have frequently
heard the good Housewives complain that, against
Rain or Thunder, their Milk will turn, and their
Larders taint ; and I have as often perceived that,
a Storm approaching, the Scent will in a Moment
change and vanish. Nor is the suddenness of such

c Alter-

[ 32 ]

Alteration the least Wonder, if we take into Consi-
deration the Smallness of the Particles. The same
efficient Cause may penetrate and corrupt these
minute Corpuscles in the twinkling of an Eye,
which requires an Hour or a Day to operate on
Bodies of greater Bulk and Substance : As the same
Fire or Aquafortis will dissolve the Filings of Steel
in an Instant ; though a Pound Lump of that same
Metal is so long able to resist their Violence.

That these Particles of Scent are of an equal
(exactly equal) Specifick Gravity with the Par-
ticles of the Air, is demonstrated by the falling and
rising of them in just Proportion to it. I have
often smiled at hasty Huntsmen, to hear them rating
and cursing their Dogs (that yesterday were the
best in England) for galloping and staring with their
Noses in the Air, as if their Game was flown : For
often does it happen that it is in vain for them to
seek after the Scent in any other Place ; the increas-
ing weight of that fluid Element having wafted it
over their heads. Though even at such a Season,
(after the first Mettle and Fury of the Cry is some-
thing abated) the more steady Beagles may make
a shift to pick it out by the Particles left by the
brush of her Feet, (especially if there be not a
strong, drying, exhaling Wind, to hurry these
away after the rest.) This often happens in a calm,
gentle, steady Frost, when (as I conceive) the
Purity, Coldness, or perhaps the Nitre of the Air,
serves to fix and preserve a few remaining Par-
ticles, that they do not easily corrupt. At another
Season, when the Air is light, or growing lighter,
the Scent must proportionably be falling or sinking ;
and then every Dog (though in the height of his
Courage, he pushes forwards, yet) is forced to come
back again and again, and cannot make any sure
Advances, but with his Nose on the Ground. When
Circumstances are thus (if there be not a Storm or

Thunder

[ 33 ]

Thunder impending to corrupt the Scent (as I said
before) you may expect the most curious and last-
ing Sport ; Puss having then a fair Opportunity to
shew her Wiles, and every old or slow Dog to come
in for his Share, to display his Experience, the
Subtilty of his Judgment, and the Tenderness of his
Nostrils. The most terrible Day for the poor Hare,
is when the Air is in its mean Gravity, or aequi-
librio, tolerably moist, but inclining to grow drier,
and fann'd with the gentle Breezes of the Zephyrs.
The moderate Gravity buoys up the Scent as high
as the Dogs Breast, the Vesicles of Moisture serve
as so many Canals, or Vehicles, to carry the Effluvia
into the Tubes of their Noses ; and the gentle
Fannings help in such wise to spread and dissipate
them, that every Hound, even at Eight or Ten
Paces distant, (especially on the windy Side) may
have his Proportion.

I advise all Gentlemen, who delight in Hunting,
to provide themselves with a Barometer j or Wea-
ther-Glass. I am sorry to say that this Instrument
(though a fine Invention) is still imperfectly under-
stood by the Philosopher, as well as the Farmer ;
and the Index generally annexed to it of Rain, Fair,
Settled Fair, &c. are impertinent and delusive. If
the Gravity of the Air is the Cause of Drought, the
latter should be in proportionate Degrees with the
former ; and yet we see the sudden or extraordinary
Rising of the Mercury, a sure Prognostick of an
approaching Change : We see it often continue to
fall after the Rain is over ; and we may generally
observe the most settled Fair, and the greatest
Rains, both happen when it is in a moderate Height.
By the Accounts I have kept, the Mercury is com-
monly at the highest Marks in dull cloudy Wea-
ther ; yet does it often fall a great deal faster before
a few Drops, or a dry Mist, than an impetuous
Rain ; and even continue to do so after a hard Rain

c 2 is

[ 34 ]

is over. And what is more common than to see it
descend many Days together, to the Terror of the
Husbandman, in Hay or Corn-Harvest ; when the
Consequence, at last, is only a few Drops weighty
enough to descend, though the Air was in its utmost
Degree of Gravity, and the Mercury at Thirty-one
Inches ? The vulgar Solutions of these Difficulties
are insufficient and puzzling ; and very inconsis-
tent with avowed Principles : And in my humble
Opinion, there will never appear a certain and satis-
factory Account of these perplexing Pheenomena,
'till some sage Naturalist shall give himself the
Trouble of a more full and compleat Diary than
has yet been published ; where together with the
Degrees of the Barometer, Thermometer, and Hy-
grometer, shall be taken in (in distinct Columns) the
time of the Year, the length of the Days, the Age
of the Moon, the Situation of the Wind, with its
Degrees of Roughness ; the Colours of the Clouds
at Sun Rising and Setting ; the manner of flying,
chattering, or flocking of Birds, and divers other
concurring Tokens and Symptoms, which may be
of great Use in Conjunction with the said Instru-
ments, to settle and confirm our Prognostications.
In the mean time it must be confessed, that this
ingenious machine is of great use to the observant
Huntsman ; and when he rises in a Morning, and
finds the Air moist and temperate, the Quicksilver
in his glass moderately high, or gently Convex,
he has a fair Invitation to prepare for his Exercise.
I know it is the Custom with our juvenile Sports-
men to fix the Time, two or three Days before-
hand, to meet a Friend, or to Hunt in such or such
a Quarter : But appointed Matches of this kind are
my Aversion and Abhorrence : He that will enjoy
the Pleasure of the Chase, must ask Leave of the
Heavens. Hunting is a Trade that is not to be
forc'd ; nor can the best Cry, that ever was cou-
pled,

[ 36 ]

pled, make any Thing of it, unless the Air be in
Tune.

The Earth also hath no small Influence on this
delicious Pastime ; for though it sometimes happens
(according to. the Observations above) that the
Scent is Floating, so that you may run down a
Hare through Water and Mire (especially if you
keep pretty close after her) without the Trouble
of stooping : yet at such a Season, the first Fault is
the Loss of your Game ; the Perspirations of her
Body being v/afted over Head by the Gravity of
the Air, and those of her Feet being left on Ele-
ments that absorb or confound them.

This last Case very often happens at the going off
of a Frost ; the Mercury is then commonly falling,
and by consequence the Scent sinking to the Ground ;
the Earth is naturally on such occasion fermenting ;
dissolving, stinking, exhaling, and very porous ; so
that it is impossible but most of the Particles must
then be corrupted, buried, or overcome by stronger
Vapours. 'Tis common to hear the Vulgar say, She
carries Dirt in her Heels, but that is not all ; it being
very plain by what has been observ'd, that it is not
only by the Scent of the Foot she is so eagerly pur-
sued.

The mention of Frost puts me in mind of a parti-
cular Observation of my own making, that may be
useful or diverting to my Brethren of the Chace.
You all make it a great Part of your Pleasure to hunt
out the Walk of a Hare to her Seat, and doubtless
you have often been surprizingly disappointed on
such Occasions. You have many times been able to
hunt the same Walk in one part of the Fields, and
not in another ; you have hunted the same Walk at
Ten or Eleven, which gave not the least Scent at
Seven in the Morning; and which is most provoking
and perplexing of all, you have often been able to
hunt it only at the wrong End, or backwards ; after

many

[ 36 ]

many Hours Wonder and Expectation, cherishing
your Dogs, and cursing your Fortune, you are in
Truth never so far from your Game as when your
Hunt is warmest. All these Accidents are only the
Effect of the Hoar-frost, or very gross Dew (for
they never happen otherwise) and from thence must
the Miracle be accounted for.

I have already prov'd that a Thaw tends to corrupt
the Particles, and have as good reason to maintain
that the Frost fixes, covers, and preserves them.
(Whether this is done by intercepting their Ascent,
and precipitating them to the Ground by the gross
Particles of frozen Dew, or whether by sheathing
them, and protecting them from the penetrating
Air (as the good Wives preserve their potted Meats
and Pickles) I leave to the Learned ; but the Facts
are certain, and confirmed by Experience. We have
therefore only to take notice (by the way) that the
hoar Frost is very often of short continuance, change-
able and uncertain, both as to its Time and Place of
falling ; and hence all those Difficulties are easily
resolved. Let the Huntsman as soon as he is out of
his Bed examine but the Glass Windows, which com-
monly discover whether any hoar Frost has fallen,
what Time it came, and in what Condition of con-
tinuance or going off it is for the present. If it
appears to have fallen at Two, Three, or Four in the
Morning (suppose in the Month of October, and other
Times of the Year must be judg'd of by Proportion)
and to be going off about day-break, it may then be
expected that there will be a great Difficulty or Im-
possibility of trailing to her Seat, because her Morn-
ing Retreat being on the top of the frozen Dew, the
Scent is either dissolved or corrupted with it, or dis-
sipated and exhaled. 'Tis true (after such a Night)
the Dogs will find Work in every Field, and often
hunt in full Gry, but it will be generally backward,
and always in vain, her Midnight Ramblings (which

were

[ 37 ]

were covered by the Frost) being now open, fresh,
and fragrant. If the said Frost begins later in the
Morning, after Puss is seated, there is nothing to be
done till that is gone off; and this is the reason that
we often see the whole Pack picking out a Walk at
Nine or Ten in the same Path where Sweet-Lips her-
self could not touch at Seven. Again, if the Frost
began early enough, and continues steadily till you
are gotten into the Fields, you may then make it
good to her Seat, as well as at other times on naked
Ground; tho' you must expect to run a great Risque
of losing her at the going off of the Frost, according
to the Observations already laid down.

It is also to be remember'd, that there is no small
accidental difference in the very Particles of Scent!
I mean, that they are stronger, sweeter, or more
distinguishable at one time than at another ; and that
this difference is found not only in diverse, but often
in the same individual Creature, according to the
Changes of the Air or the Soil, as well as of her own
Motions or Conditions. That there is a different
Scent in other Animals of the same Species, is
evident from Draught-Hounds, which were formerly
made use of for tracing and pursuing Thieves and
Deer-Stealers or rather from any common Cur or
Spaniel, which will hunt out their Masters, or their
Master's Horse, distinctly from all others: And that
it is the same with the Hare, is no less visible from
the old Beagles, which will not readily change for a
fresh one, unless she starts in view, or unless a Fault
happens that puts them in Confusion, and inclines
them in Despair to take up with the next they can
come by.

That the same Hare will at divers times emit finer
or grosser Particles, is equally manifest to every one
who shall observe the frequent Changes in one single
Chase, the Alterations that ensue on any different
Motion, and on her Degrees of sinking. The

coursing

[ 38 ]

coursing of a Cur -Dog, or the Fright from an
obvious Passenger, is often the Occasion of an unex-
pected Fault; and after such an Accident the Dogs
must be cherished, and be put upon it again and
again, before they will take it and acknowledge it
for their own Game. The reason is (as I conceive)
the change of the Motion causes a Change in the
perspiring Particles ; and as the spirits of the Dogs
are all engaged and attach'd to Particles of such or
such a Figure, 'tis with difficulty they come to be
sensible of, or attentive to, those of a different Relish.
You will pardon the Expression, if I compare old
Joaler (in this case) to a Mathematician, who is
so intent on the long perplexing Ambages of the
Problem before him, that he hears not the Clock or
Bell that summons him to a new Employment. The
Alterations in a yielding Hare are less frequently
the occasion of Faults, because they are more gra-
dual, and, likethesame Rope, insensibly tapering and
growing smaller: But that Alterations there are,
every Dog-boy knows by the old Hounds, which
still pursue with greater Eagerness, as she is nearer
her End.

I take Motion to be the chief Cause of shedding
or discharging these scenting Particles; because she
is very seldom perceived whilst quiet in her Form,
tho' the Dogs are ever so near, tho' they leap over
her, or (as I have often seen) even tread upon her.
Indeed it sometimes happens that she is (as we say)
winded where she sits. But this may be the Effect
of that Train of Scent she left behind her in going
to her Chair; or more probably the Consequence of
her own Curiosity, in moving and rising up, (as I
have also seen) to peep after and watch the Proceed-
ings of her Adversaries. However, we must grant
that these Particles of Scent (tho' the Effect of
Motion) are not more gross and copious in propor-
tion to the increasing Swiftness of the Animal ; no

more

[ 39 ]

more than in a Watering-pot, which the swifter it
passes, the less of the falling Water it bestows on
the subjacent Plants.

'Tis very plain, the slower the Hare moves, the
stronger and grosser, ccster is paribus, are those Par-
ticles she leaves behind her; which I take to be one
Reason (besides the cloathing and shielding of them
from the penetrating Air by the descending Frost or
Dew) that the Morning Walk will give Scent so
much longer than the Flight in hunting. However,
'tis as remarkable, that these odorous Particles gra-
dually decay and end with her Life, because it
requires the most curious Noses to lead the Cry when
she is near her last ; because she is so often entirely
lost at the last Quat ; and because if you knock her
on the head before them, there is hardly one in the
Pack that will stop or take any notice of her.

The greatest Art and Curiovsity is discovered in
hunting the Foil, especially if she immediately steal
back behind the Dogs the same Path she came : For
it must require the utmost skill, to distinguish well
the new Scent from the old, when both are mixed,
obscured, and confounded with the strong Perspira-
tions of so many Dogs and Horses. Yet this we
have often seen performed by ready and expert
Hunters. However, if the Dogs be not Masters of
their Business, or if the. Air be not in due Balance,
the Difficulty will be the greater.

The Reader will observe that the Remarks I have
made are generally on the Hare, which (as I have
said) is of all others most worthy of our Speculation
and Enquiry. By Analogy the hunting of the Deer
or Fox will be easily understood ; For tho' the Scent
of these is generally higher, more obvious to the
Noses of the Dogs, and in greater Plenty whilst the
Particles last; yet for that very Reason (floating in
the Air) they are sooner dissipated, and require a

[ 40 ]

more vigorous (tho' less subtle) Huntsman, as well
as swifter Beagles.

mmummmmmmmmwmmmmmmmmwMmwmummmm€umu

Ho UND S.

IWrY learned Predecessors have been so full and
^ copious in Descriptions of these Animals, in
Directions for mending and improving the Breed,
in giving Advice for chusing, paring, kenneling, feed-
ing, physicking, entring, governing, encouraging,
and correcting the loud-tongued Society, that there
is little left for a New Author without Repetition or
Impertinence. Let me only admire and adore the
Goodness of our bountiful Father, in furnishing his
Children with Creatures so innocently as well as
healthfully to divert them, in supplying us with
Forces for subduing and destroying those Beasts of
Rapine, which would otherwise multiply, to the
great Disturbance, Danger, and Destruction of the
rest of the Creation !

It is a common Practice of our young Students in
Philosophy, (for Use or for Diversion, either for the
Love of Knowledge or of Mischief) to steal or lay
hold on their Neighbours Dogs, in order to dissect
them. We may hear them often displaying their
Skill with pert Eloquence ; boasting of their Disco-
veries in the Circulation of the Blood, the Contex-
ture of the Muscles, the Progress of the Nerves,
Veins and Arteries ; and learnedly descanting on the
Glands or Strainers, the imperceptible Ducts of the
Lacteals, as well as the spiral Motion of the Bowels.
To such I recommend a little farther and more par-
ticular Enquiry into the special Formation of these
Creatures. Let them employ their Knives, their
Glasses, and their Pens, to describe to us ignorant
Country Squires the Organs of Sound, as well as

Scent,

[ 41 ]

Scent, in this domestick Animal we so much delight
in. I leave to these curious Virtuosi, to delineate
the Lamina of the Beagles Noses, with those innu-
merable olfactory Tubes and Pores of all Sizes and
Figures, that are spread over or pass thro' them. Let
them nicely investigate those minute Fibres which
compose their Lungs, Trachea, Lips, and Palate;
those Vessels which qualify them to emit a Voice so
sweet and cheerful, so proper to give notice of their
Discoveries to their Master, as well as to call toge-
ther their straggling Companions, to unite their
Forces.

But there is a Question or two which have been
sometimes put to me by my inquisitive Brethren, to
which I think it incumbent upon me in this Place
to give an Answer.

First, I have been asked. What or how many dif-
ferent Sorts of these Animals of Chace were originally
created? What were those first Kinds, out of
which so many Packs, of innumerable Shapes,
Tongues, Sizes and Colours, may be supposed to be
produced?

My Answer is short and plain, (yet something
fuller than the Question requires) That in my
Opinion, not only all Hounds and Beagles, but all
Dogs whatsoever, even from the terrier Bear-Dog to
the little Flora, are all onem the first Creation; that
every Virtue and Faculty, Size or Shape, which we
find or improve in every Dog upon Earth, were
originally comprehended in the first Parents of the
Species; and that all this Variety we behold in them,
is either the natural Product of the Climate, or the
accidental Eff*ect of Soil, Food or Situation, or very
frequently the Issue of human Care, Curiosity, or
Caprice. Every Huntsman knows what a vast
Alteration may be made in his Breed (as^to Tongue,
Heels, or Colour) by industriously improving the
same Blood for twenty or thirty Years : And what

Nature

[ 42 ]

Nature can do, (which wisely tends to render every
Kind of Creature fit for the Country where it is to
inhabit or be imployed) is manifest by this; that a
Couple of right Southern Hounds, removed to the
North, and suifer'd to propagate without Art or
Mixture in a hilly and mountainous Country, (where
the Air is light and thin) will by sensible Degrees
decline and degenerate into lighter Bodies,and shriller
Voices, if not rougher Coats. The like Alterations
may be observed in the Breeds of Sheep, Horses, and
other Cattle, and indeed in every Species subject to
the Art and Interest of Man, and employed to
generate at his Choice and Humour. Even in those
Animals that are reckon'd among the Ferce Naturd.,
every Traveller bears witness of a remarkable Dif-
ference; and I hope the Reader will pardon the
Comparison, if I affirm the same of Man himself.

That we are all (of every Nation and Language)
the Sons of Adam, we have the Testimony of God;
which to honest Hunters (who are generally of the
Orthodox Party) is of sufficient Authority. As to
Doubters and Scepticks, I refer them to the ancient
Poets, Historians, and Geographers ; who will soon
supply them with innumerable Arguments and
Observations, which unanswerably demonstrate the
Novityoiihe World, the Migrations of Colonies, the
gradual peopling of the Earth, and the propagating
and spreading of the human Species from one and
the same Original. And yet what an incredible and
monstrous Variety is arisen among us, in Humour
and Constitution, as well as Shape and Colour! Who
could imagine the thick-lip'd Ethiopian, the wool-
pated Negro, the blinking Chinese, the stately Spa-
niard, and the dapper Frenchman, to be of the same
Parentage? Or, to go no further than our own Na-
tion and Climate, how improbable may it seem, that
the fashionable Nymph (who is not able to make a
Visit of thirty Yards without a Chair or Coach, a

Squire

[ 43 ]

Squire to lead her, or a Cane to support her) should
be cast in the same Mould with the Farmer's Daugh-
ter? Or that the sturdy Champions of Queen Besses
Days, should be but the great Grandfathers of that
puny Race which is to be seen swarming in all
modern publick Assemblies, unless it be at Church ?

Obj. But is there not a more substantial Distinc-
tion betwixt Curs and Greyhounds, Turnspits and
Beagles ? I can hardly grant it ; or if there be, it
will be easily accounted for by the Considerations
above ; by giving just Allowance for Food and Cli-
mate ; by remembering that these Animals are fre-
quent Breeders, that they generate at the Choice and
Direction of their Masters, that the Fancy or Curio-
sity of the Sons of Men have been 5000 Years mix-
ing and altering, improving or spoiling them. The
Butcher sends for the famous Dog with the Silver
Collar to couple with his Favourite, and rears up the
Whelp with Blood and Garbage, to increase the
Valour and Strength of this Porter. The Huntsman
nourishes his close-begotten Litter with Sheep's-
trotters, to invigorate their Heels : And Belinda
gives her little Oronoko Brandy, to make him good
for nothing but to look on, to contract his Growth
into a petit Epitome of her tres-beau Philander.

But notwithstanding the Effects of human In-
dustry and Contrivance are thus great and numerous,
yet they are not infinite : They are still a Ne plus to
which they are stinted ; nor can all our Devices add
one new Species to the Works of the Creation. Na-
ture is still uniform as to the main ; the Almighty
Creator is not to be imitated by short-handed Mor-
tals : In spite of Art our Mules will all be barren ;
ilor can the most cunning Projector produce one
amphigeneous Animal that will increase and multi-
ply. There appears a distinct specifick Difference
m all living Creatures; the Horse, the Dog, the Bear,
the Goat, (however diversify'd by Art or Accident,

in

[ 44 ]

in Size or Figure) will ever discover something that
appropriates to them those Names or Characters ;
and above all other things, the peculiar Appetites
and Powers of Generation will prompt them to own
and indicate their Relation. This I conceive is the
most undeniable Argument that all Dogs are of one
original Species ; since every body knows, that no
Deformity, Disproportion or Dissimilitude, can hinder
any one of that Name from courting, following, or
accepting the other ; nor their mungrel Off-spring
from enjoying the common Nature and Faculties of
the Species.

But admitting the Distinctions of Hounds, Bea-
gles, &c. as they commonly stand ; I have been also
consulted, what particular Sorts I would recommend
for each particular Game in this Island. For the
Deer, the Fox, the Otter, &c. every Sportsman
knows the Breed that is most proper ; But as each of
them, with a little Application, will joyfully follow
the sweet-scented Hare, the Query is, what Kind
is preferable for that delightful Exercise ?

The most satisfactory Reply to every Hunter is,
that his own Kind is best. But such as are setting
up a new Cry, I would advise to begin to breed on
the middle-size Dogs, betwixt the Southern Hound
and the Northern Beagle. 'Tis true, the finest and
most curious Sport is generally with the former.
Whether it be the particular Formation of their long
Trunks, or the extraordinary Moisture that always
cleaves to the Noses and Lips of this Sort of Dogs,
I need not enquire in this Place : But certain it is,
that they are endued with the most accurate Sense
of smelling, and can often take and distinguish the
Scent an Hour after the lighter Beagles can make
nothing of it. Their Slowness also better disposes
them to receive the Commands and Directions of the
Huntsman ; and their much Phlegm, (for there seems
to be a Difference in the Constitutions of other Ani-
mals,

[ 45 ]

mals, as well as Man) I say, their Phlegm gives
them Patience to proceed with Caution and Regu-
larity ; to make sure of every Step as they go,
carefully to describe every Indenture, to unravel
each puzzling Trick of Figure. But these grave
sort of Dogs are however fittest for Masters of the
same Temper : As they are able to hunt in cold
Scent, they are too apt to make it so, by their
want of Speed and Vigor to push forward, and keep
it warm ; their Exactness often renders them trifling
and tedious ; and like some nice Dames, who stand
picking out every Dust and Mote, whilst they
might dress the Meat. By this Means, though the
Hunt be finer ; yet the Prey, (which is by some
thought necessary to compleat the Sport) very
often escapes ; the Length of the Chace takes up
the Time, and exposes them to numerous Hazards
of losing.

The North Country Beagle is Nimble and Vigo-
rous; and does his Business as furiously as Jehu
himself can wish him : He pursues Puss with the
most impetuous Eagerness, gives her no Time to
Breathe or Double ; and (if the Scent lies high)
will easily demolish a Leash, or two Brace, before
Dinner. But this is too much, too short, and vio-
lent ; nor is such Success often to be expected. For
though this kind of Dogs are much in Request
among our younger Gentry, who take Out-running
and Out-riding their Neighbours, to be the best
Part of the Sport ; yet 'twould make one sick to be
out with them in a cross Morning, when the Walk
lies backward, or the Scent low and falling. The
Huntsman rates, the Groom rides, the Squire swears,
the Whips crack ; War-wing, War-counter, War-
Sheep ; P take ye ; the D / had ye ; is the

Burden of the Musick. Their high Mettle makes
them impatient to drive the Nail as it will go ;
rather than stay to creep, or stoop, they push for-
wards

[ 46 ]

wards at every Fume they catch; they cross it,
over-run it ; hunt backward, or hunt any Thing,
to force a Trade : in short in my Opinion, 'tis im-
possible to make a good Pack of these, without the
constant Discipline of the Whip ; without perpe-
tually hunting them, and hunting them down, to
tame their Fury, and quench their Fire.

There is yet another Sort in great Favour with
small Gentry, because they eat but little. These,
as their Noses are very tender, and not far from the
Ground, I have often seen to make tolerable Sport ;
but without great Care, they are flirting and ma-
gotty, and very apt to chaunt and chatter on any,
or on no Occasion. A Rabbit, Mouse, or Wesel
will please them, instead of lawful Game ; and in
Truth 'tis seldom they understand (if I may use
that Expression) their Business, or perform their
Office with Judgment or Discretion.

The Mixture of all, or any of these, I should
judge to be better; especially, if a distinguishable
Portion of Southern Blood be remaining in their
Veins. The managing the Litters, I must leave to
the Discretion of the Squire, and his Man. But I
know by Experience, a Race may be produced, that
by running with less Speed, will surer and sooner
arrive at the End; a Race that carry with them a
good Share of the Nose, and Steddiness of the deep
Curtels, the Vigour and Activity of the chackling
Beagle ; the Strength and Toughness of the right
Buck-hound, and the tuneful Voices, that are a
Compound of all ; but enough of this.

The Horse.

^l^HE Horse I take to be very necessary Furni-
ture towards the Pleasure of Huntmg; for

the'

[ 47 ]

tho' I have heard of wonderful Performances among
boasting Footmen, I could never yet see any Crea-
ture on two Legs keep in with the Dogs. But as every
Groom, and most Gentlemen are well acquainted
with the Use, Properties, Excellencies, and Manage-
ment of this noble Beast, I shall offer very little on
this beaten Subject ; only let it be observ'd, that not
every good and fleet Horse is always a good Hunter !
For he may have Strength and Vigour for a long
Journey, and yet not be able to bear the Shocks and
Strainings of the Chace ; another may be swift enough
to win a Plate on a smooth Turf, which yet will be
crippled or Heart-broken by one Hare in Fehriiary.
The right Hunter ought to have Strength without
Weight, Courage without Fire, Speed without La-
bour, a free Breath, a strong Walk, a nimble, light,
but large Gallop ; and a swift Trot, to give Change
and Ease to the more speedy Muscles.

The Marks most likely to discover a Horse of these
Properties are, a vigorous, sanguine, healthy Colour,
a Head and Neck as light as possible (whether hand-
some or not) a quick moving Eye and Ear, clean wide
Jaws and Nostrils, large thin Shoulders, and high
Withers, a deep Chest and short Back, large Ribs
and wide Pin-bones, Tail high and stiff, Gaskins well
spread, and Buttocks lean and hard ; above ail, let his
Joints be strong and firm, and his Legs and Pasterns
short ; for I believe there was never yet a long
limber-legg'd Horse that was able to gallop down
steep Hills, and take bold Leaps with a Weight upon
his Back, without sinking or foundering.

As to all Matters of Feeding, physicking, airing,
&c. I refer you to the more expert Grooms, or the
learned Doctors of the Hammer and Pincers ; but as
my way of ordering my Steed is to consult Use
rather than Ornament, I always keep them in the
open Air (unless the night after a hard Chace) I allow
them two or three Acres of Pasture to cool their

I) Bellie;3

[ 48 ]

Bellies and stretch their Limbs, with a warm Hovel
to shelter them from a Storm ; a Rack and Manger,
with proper Provisions to keep them in heart ; and a
fresh Spring of Water in the same Field to quench
their Thirst. I have known a Gelding with this
Regimen to be sound, fresh, and in full Vigor, after
Ten Years the hardest Hunting ; I dare promise him
that shall try, to find such a one as far beyond the
fine cloath'd thin skin'd Courser {cceteris paribus) as
a rough Ploughman is fitter for Business than a soft-
handed Beau.

Huntsman.

9^jniS common enough with our young Squires to
take the first wide-throated Attendant that
offers his Service, and makes him his Huntsman,
imagining the green Coat will qualify him for the
Office ; as some set up themselves for Doctors, with
no other Recommendation but a Pair of large Eye-
brows, and a Sett of loud-sounding Polisyllables.

But as every Block will not make a Mercury, much
less is he fit for a Huntsman who is not born with a
natural Craft and Readiness of Mind, and has not
improved those Talents by long Study, Observation,
and Experience.

I once had the Pleasure of a long Conversation
with a very ingenious learned Gentleman, then
Seventy Years Old : Having himself hunted with all
sorts of Dogs, and in most of the Counties in England,
he entertained me with a most delightful Discourse
on that Subject ; and upon my making him a Com-
pliment on his perfect Knowledge in the Art, Oh,
Sir, (says he) the Life of Man is too short / This
sage Declaration was received as a Jest by some of
the Company ; but I have since found it a serious

Truth •

[ 49 ]

Truth : I am an Old Man myself; the Wiles of the
Hare have been all along the Study of my leisure
Hours, and yet I am perpetually puzzled and out-
witted by that subtle Creature. When I think my-
self sure, she often puts some unexpected Trick upon
me; 'and hardly do I ever lose her in tolerable
scenting Weather, but (like a General after the Loss
of a Battle) I can afterwards discern that it was the
Effect of some Oversight, or want of Provision for
such and such a Contingency. For the Conquest of
a Hare (like that of an Enemy) does not depend only
on rigorous Attacks or Pursuits, but there are a hun-
dred Accidents to which the Success of the Field is
obnoxious, and which ought always to be in the
Head of the Huntsman, if he would come off with
Glory. It is not enough with good Judgment to
chuse our Forces, to raise their Courage with whole-
some Food and frequent Exhortations,' and to make
them subject to the Word of Command by constant
Discipline and Exercise ; but in the Time of Action
we ought to be arm'd with a Calmness and Presence
of Mind, to observe the various Motions and Stra-
tagems made use of to defeat us, and furnish 'd with
prudent Foresight and Provision for every new Emer-
gency to which the Fortune of the Day is subject.
We must never forget that every Hare (as we say of
Fencers) has her particular Play; that however that
Play is occasionally changed according to the Varia-
tion of Wind and Weather, the Weight of the Air,
the Nature of the Ground, and the Degrees of Eager-
ness with which she is pursued. Nor are we to be
unmindful of the numerous Accidents she may meet
in her way, to turn her out of her Course, to cover
her Flight, to quicken her Speed, or to furnish her
with an Opportunity of new Devices. I say, it is
not enough to have a general Knowledge of these
Things before the Game is started; but in the Heat
of Action (when we are most tempted to be in

D 2 Rap-

[ 50 ]

Raptures, with the Sound of the Horns, the Melody
of the Cry, and the Expectation of Success) we must
carry them in our heads; every Step we make we
must calmly observe the Alterations of Soil, the Po-
sition of the Wind, the Time of the Year; and no less
take notice with what Speed she is driven ; how far
she is before ; to what Place she tends ; whether she
is likely to keep on forward, or to turn short behind;
whether she has not been met by Passengers, frighted
by Curs, intercepted by Sheep; whether an approach-
ing Storm, a rising Wind, a sudden Blast oi the Sun,
the going off of a Frost, the Repetition of foiled
Ground, the Decay of her ow^n strength, or any
other probable Turn of Affairs, has not abated or al-
tered the Scent. There are other Things still no less
necessary to be remember'd than the former; as the
particular Quality and Character of each Dog; whe-
ther the present Leaders are not apt to over-run it ;
which are most ijiclin'd to stand on the double;
which are to be depended upon in the Highway, on
the plough'd Ground, or a bare Turf, in an uncertain
Scent, in the crossing of fresh Game, thro' a Flock of
Sheep, upon the Foil or Stole-back. The Size also
and Strength of the Hare will make a difference ; nor
must the Hounds themselves be followed so closely,
or so loudly cherished when fresh and vigorous, as
after they have run off their Speed and Mettle, and
begin to be tired.

I would advise a young Huntsman, when the
Scent lies well, always to keep himself pretty far
behind : At such a Time (especially if it be against
the Wind) it is impossible for the poor Hare to hold
it forward; nor has she any Trick or Refuge for her
Life; but to stop short, by a Way, or Path, and
when all are past, to steal immediately back, which
is often the Occasion of an irrecoverable Fault, in
the midst of the warmest Sport and Expectations;
and is the best Trick the poor Hare has for her Life

in

[ 51 ]

in Scenting Weather. Whereas, if the Huntsman
were not too forward, he would have the Advan-
tage of seeing her steal off, and turning her aside;
or more probably the Pleasure of the Dogs return-
ing, and thrusting her up in View.

It is very common for the fleet Dog to be the
great Favourite, though it would be much better,
if he was hanged or exchanged. Be a Dog in his
own Nature never so good, yet he is not good in
that Pack, that is too slow for him. There is most
times Work enough for every one of the Train,
and every one ought to bear his Part. But this it
is impossible for the heavy ones to do, if they are
run out of Breath by the unproportionable Speed of
a Light -heel'd Leader. For it is not enough that
they are able to keep up (which a true Hound will
labour hard for) but they must be able to do it
with Ease, with Retention of Breath and Spirits,
and with their Tongues at Command. It must
never be expected that the Indentures of the Hare
can be well covered, or her Doubles struck off, (nor
is the Sport worth a Farthing) if the Harriers
run yelping in a long String, like Deer or Fox-
Hounds.

Another thing I would advise my Friends, is to
hang up every Liar and Chanter, not sparing even
those that are silly and trifling, without Nose or
Sagacity. It is common enough in numerous Ken-
nels, to keep some for their Musick or Beauty ; but
this is per^ctly wrong. It is a certain Maxim,
that every Dog that does no Good, does a great deal
of Hurt : They serve only to foil the Ground, and
confound the Scent ; to scamper before, and inter-
rupt their Betters in the most difficult Points. And
I may venture to affirm (by long Experience)
that Four or Five Couple, all good and trusty, will
do more Execution than Thirty or Fortv, where a

third

[ 52 ]

third of them are eager and headstrong, and (like
Coxcombs among Men) noisy in doing nothing.

Above all, I abhor joining with ^Strangers ; for
that is the way to spoil and debauch the stanchest
Hunters ; to turn the best Mettled into mad-headed
Gallopers, Lyars and Chatterers ; and to put them
on nothing but out-running their Rivals, and over-
running the Scent. The Emulation of leading (in
Dogs, and their Masters) has been the utter Ruin
of many a good Cry. Nor are strange Huntsmen
of much better Consequence than strange Compa-
nions ; for as the Skill and Excellence of these
Animals consists in Use and Habit, they should be
always accustomed to the same Voice, the same
Notes, or Hallooings ; and the same Terms of
chiding, cherishing, pressing, or recalling ; nor
should the Country-Fellows be allowed in their
Transports to extend their Throats.

It will be taken ill, if I should also speak against
a Change of Game ; because meer Squires would
be at a great loss to kill some of their Time, had
they nothing to kill when Hares are out of Season.
However, I am* well satisfied, that the best Harriers
are those that know no other. Nor is it adviseable to
let them change for a fresh Hare, as long as they
can possibly follow the old ; nor to take off their
Noses from the Scent they are upon, for the cutting
shorter or gaining of Ground. This last is a common
Trick with Pot-hunters ; but as it is unfair and
barbarous to the Hare, so you will seldom find it of
Advantage to the Hounds.

Sag

[ 5;3 ]

MMmmummummmwummnuummmumummummuuuMU

Sagacity.

^ J^HE Reader will observe that I have all along
spoken of these Animals as sagacious Crea-
tures ; that I have (according to common Appre-
hension) attributed to them Foresight and Cunning
thro' all my Observations ; and in short, that I have
harangu'd upon them like a very Huntsman. How
common has it been with our hasty Fraternity, upon
the Loss of a Hare, to swear she is a Witch ? But
it is my Opinion that a real Witch (if obliged to
run fair, without the Aid of Broomstick or Pewter-
Dishes) would not be Mistress of half the Policy,
or be able to devise so many Shifts for her Life :
Nor would Conjurers, Catch-Poles ; or Craftsmen
themselves (though furnish'dwith four Legs) pursue
their Prey with so much Eagerness, Industry or
Subtilty, as an Old Hound.

Every Hare is no sooner started, but she seems
immediately to form a Scheme, and to take into it
the Gravity of the Air, the Position of the Wind,
the Difference of the Soil, the Succour of a Flock of
Sheep, and every other Accident or Advantage that
may be most likely to baffle her Adversaries and
favour her Escape. Nor is the experienc'd Hound
less acute and crafty, to stop at every Double, in
order to apprehend her where she squats ; to try
every By-path, Gate, or Gutter-Hole, to round it on
that side where she seems to bend ; to proportion his
Speed to every Degree of Alteration in the Scent or
sinking of the Foe. He seems also with no less
Curiosity to distinguish the Scent he is engag'd in
from any fresh Offer, as well as to discern and pick
it out as often as she repeats the foiled Path.

It

[ 54 ]

It is very common for a Hare to run a Mile or
two forward, and then, making a small Ring, to fly
back in the same Tract, whilst her Enemies are puz-
zling at the Head of her Works : And I have been
several times an Eye-witness of her beating about,
and thrusting out a fresh Hare in her Place, and then
saving herself by a swift Retreat, and two or three
large Leaps, the better to impose upon the eager
Dogs. I have also seen an old Dog, on the like
Occasion, standing to his first Scent, looking over
his Shoulder, and, as it were, scolding at his heedless
Juniors for going on so eagerly, or for changing
their Game. A hundred more of this sort of Ob-
servations you may hear from any old weather-
beaten Huntsman over a Bottle of October.

It remains then, that we consider the Grounds of
all this Sagacity (so called ;) that we more strictly
examine into the hidden Principles of all these
Actions, and enquire into the Powers and Faculties
given by the great Creator for such astonishing
Operations.

Shall we believe with the Vulgar, that all this is
properly the Effect of Thought, Reflection, and Rati-
ocination ? Or shall we maintain, with the Schools,
that a Soul merely sensible (without any Reason or
thinking Faculty) is capable of it ? Or, finally, shall
we dare to suppose, or suggest, (with the exploded
Des Cartes) that these are the Operations of mere
Matters of Machines, nor less destitute of Sense than
Reason ? If I should pretend to defend the first of
these Opinions, I draw upon me the Philosophers
and Divines. The least Word in favour of the last,
will make my jolly Brethren, and all the fair Sex, (in
behalf of their Venys, their Pugs, and Grimalkins)
outrageous with me : But to rest contented with
the middle Hypothesis (the Sensibility of Brutes)
is to be at W^ar with my own Reason, and to be

guilty

C 55 ]

guilty of the grossest Absurdity of the three. But
let us examine them severally.

A good Number of the Sages have served them-
selves, and perhaps satisfied their Readers, with the
Word Instinct, which (together with its learned Bro-
ther occult Quality) is not a Jot more than an Eva-
sion of the Question, a Covert for Ignorance, and
perfectly equivalent to the wise Man of Gotham^ s
Definition of a Windmill, It is a Something.

We might much better honestly make confession
of our Ignorance, and end all Dispute. But we must
then quit the Name oi Philosophers, whose Pretences
are to discover the Secrets of Nature, to go to the
Bottom and Foundation of their Subjects, and to
give a rational and intelligible Account of those Ap-
pearances and Operations, that are visible in Effect,
but mysterious in the Cause. For of what Use is
such a Term as Instinct in the Enquiry before us,
when there is no Idea annexed to it ? And how ridi-
culous is it, to offer to explain one thing by another
less intelligible than itself ? Let the Question be put.
What is it that excites the Hound to pursue the
Hare ? The Answer is ready ; It is natural Instinct.
A judicious Determination ! And those who feel
themselves satisfied or enlighten'd by it, need read
no farther.

Perhaps the Omnipotent has given Faculties to
these his Creatures, that are beyond the Reach and
Investigation of short-sighted Man ! Perhaps he has
proposed the Pleasure of these and many other Dis-
coveries, as the Prize and Reward of the Studious
and Industrious ! Be it how it will, as often as we
will presume to enquire into his stupendous Works,
and to give a rational Account of his Ways and Pro-
ceedings with his Creatures, we must set about it
with such Measures as we have, and make use of
such Terms as we understand, and are agreed upon ;
otherwise our Candles will but dazzle our Eyes, and

all

[ '56 ]

all our Illustrations end at last in the Plough-Man's
Comparison. ' Tis like I don't know what.

Is it then Reason that is the Spring of Action in
the brute Creation ? And shall we allow them those
Powers of remembring, rejiecting, distinguishing,
compounding, numbring, inferring, approving, com-
paring, chasing, and resolving, which we feel in
ourselves ? Why then do we (by universal consent)
appropriate to our Species the Privilege of Ratio-
nality ? Wherein do these Animals difier from us ?
W^hy are they incapable of Leagues and Societies,
or destitute of the Notion of moral Good or Evil ?
What Reason shall we assign, that their Creator has
not been pleased to reveal himself to them ? And
why do we not qualify them with an immortal Soul,
as also with an Expectation of a future State ?

The Heathen Divines grounded their Claim to
Immortality on the Power of thinking ; and almost
all Christians have laid hold of their Argument, and
followed in their Steps. That mere Matter is of a
passive Nature, divisible, corruptible, and incapable
of spontaneous Motion, is granted on all Hands ;
and if this spontaneous Motion, or Cogitation, be a
just Argument of a Soul immaterial and incorrup-
tible in Man, how can we deny the same Conse-
quence in other living- Creatures?

To evade this Conclusion, the judicious Mr. Locke
has complimented Matter, with a Faculty of which
in its own Nature he confesses it uncapable ; and has
laboured to maintain, that the omnipotent Creator
is able to furnish it with a Power of thinking.

But this Assertion is perfectly sophistical, unwor-
thy of a Philosopher, unworthy of Mr. Locke, and
even utterly inconsistent with his own Principles.
That renowned Author has laid it down as a Maxim
in fair Argumentation, that no Ter^n ought to be
made use of in a Sense contrary to, or beyond the
vulgar received Ideas annexed to that Term. This

I en-

[ 57 ]

I entirely agree to, and am of an opinion that a false
Term in reasoning is like false Coin in dealing; that
he is as much a Cheat who puts off a Word in a Sense
different from its current Meaning, as he that pays
a Bath Shilling instead of a Guinea. This, I say,
is Mr. Locke s Maxim, and the Use he makes of it
explains his Meaning: That an Ideot or Monster (tho'
born of human Parents) cannot be said to be a Man,
because Rationality is one of the chief Ideas in Man's
Definition. Let me then ask Mr. Locke, Is Think-
ing an Idea annex'd to Matter? Do we take Cogita-
tion into our Definitipn of it ? Or is there not more
than mere Matter in our Thoughts, when we seri-
ously talk of Reason and Reflection ?

It has ever been acknowledged, that God cannot
do what in its own Nature implies a Contradiction;
at least it is absurd in a Philosopher to assert, that
any Action is naturally impossible, and yet th^ it
may be done. It is impossible that a dead Carcase
should naturally speak or walk, nor can we affirm
that any Power can produce these Actions in a dead
Carcase, because they are totally repugnant and in-
consistent with our Ideas of it. 'Tis true, we have
Instances (on the Authority of the Gospel) that a
Carcase once c/e«c/may afterwards perform the Actions
abovesaid, by that Almighty Power which of Stones
can raise up Children to Abraham. But a living Soul
must first be given, or restored, both to the one and
the other, before the Effect is produced, otherwise
our Ideas of a dea4 Carcase are false : For according
to these Ideas, to say it is possible for a dead Carcase
to speak, is no less absurd than to say it is possible
for it to be dead and not dead, to be and not to be, at
the same Time.

It is no less false and contradictory, to affirm that
mere Matter can think, than that a Horse canfl^. 'Tis
true, the Almighty can super-add Wings to such an
Animal ; but then he would cease to be an Horse ; he

would

[ 68 ]

would possess a Property utterly inconsistent with
our settled Ideas of that Creature ; and to assert
that this flying thing is a Horse, is no less absurd,
(by Mr. Locke's own Maxims in Reasoning) than
to say, an irrational Ideot is a Man ; or, in Truth
to affirm, that this is a Horse and not a Horse, at
the same Time.

When, therefore, it is maintained by that eminent
Virtuoso, that Omnipotence can bestow on Matter
a Faculty of Thinking ; he must either mean, that
God can annex, and couple with Matter something
that is not Matter ; that is, join with it an imma-
terial Soul, (as we find in Man ;) or else he must
fall into his own exploded Absurdity and Iniquity
in Reasoning, by using a Term in a Sense contrary
to the settled Ideas annexed to it.

We feel in ourselves a large Proportion of pas-
sive Matter, and see it has the Properties common
to all Matter; as. Impenetrability, Extension, Di-
vision and Corruption. We are no less conscious,
that there is superadded, or annexed to this Corpo-
real Matter, an active, self-moving Principle, ut-
terly different from Matter its self; separable from
it ; independent on it ; and of its own Nature
therefore immortal, because Indivisible, and incor-
ruptible. That the Bodies of Brutes are Material,
like our own, is never deny'd ; if we wou'd main-
tain that they have a Faculty of Thinking too, we
must allow them a Soul, like our own, also ; (for no
other can we have a Notion of ;) or else we must
siippose them to be moved by a Je-ne-scay-quoy, or
Instinct; of which, as I said before, we have no
Ideas.

The Absurdity of a Rational, Immortal Soul, in
these Animals, I have already considered : And to
go a Step farther, (though I have, in Compliance
with the vulgar way of Talking, been so free with
the Words Sagacity, Policy, &c.) I must venture to

deny,

[ 59 ]

deny, that their Motions, and Actions, have the
Semblance of Reasoning ; at least, such as human
Reasoning ; and no other have we an Idea of.

They act indeed, or are rather acted on, with a
just Regularity to the Ends of their Forma-
tion; and the same may be affirmed of a Clock,
or a Tucking-Mill ; but that very Exactness,
and Regularity, is an Argument that their Motions
are not spontaneous ; that they are not the Effect
of Thought, Choice, or Discretion. Among Rati-
onal Creatures, (who have Choice and Liberty)
there are Fools, and Madmen ; such as mistake their
Objects, or their Ways towards them ; such as act
contrary to the Designs of their Creation ; chuse
Evil for Good, and pursue their own Destruction.
But these thoughtless Animals, generally are im-
pelled with an immutable Constancy to the Ends
of their Being ; to the Preservation of themselves,
and Propagation of their Species. If this Regula-
rity be the effect of Judgment, and mature Re-
flexion, let Man see, and be ashamed.

t may take a Time to consider hereafter, the
most remarkable Instances of brutish Sagacity; but
for the present, let it suffice to observe, that all
their Motions are directed to a few Ends, for which
they were particularly created ; and that in other
Respects, they plainly appear as Stupid and Sense-
less (pardon the Use of this sort of Language) as
Trees, or Plants.

The Hare seems to have a Foresight of the Wea-
ther ; and is more or less ready to rise, and steal
off, or to sit close in her Covert, in prudent Pro-
portion to the imminent Danger of being hunted
by the Scent, or followed by the Trace. If this be
Knowledge, what Astronomer, after all his Gazing
and Study of the Planets, is so deeply learned ? But
the same Creature is yet so utterly insensible of her
Condition or Safety, that she goes loitering to her

Seat

[60 ]

Seat late in a fair Morning, and makes her last Dou-
bles in a dirty Path, as if she had a Design to be
hunted Home ; or to give the unmerciful Hunts-
men a Description of the Avenues to her House.
Both these Actions are agreeable to her Nature
(performed by Young and Old; those sitting un-
der a Kennel- Wall, and those that never heard the
Tongue of a Dog). I say, they are both agreeable
to her Nature, and the Design of her Creation ; the
first to preserve her Being, the last to give Diversion
to Man. But can they be the Effect of Choice or
Reason ; or can an Animal be one way so politick,
and the other way so stupid ?

• The Hound also, in searching for his Game as
well as in Pursuit of it, is as Cunning as the old Ser-
pent ; yet is he perfectly without Apprehension of
his own approaching Ruin ; and contentedly offers
his Neck to the same Rope, in which his Brother
was just now hanged before his Face. Indeed, I
could never discover in any Brute whatsoever, the
least Notion of Death in their Companions, or Fear
of it in themselves ; with which, certainly, a very
small Degree of Reflection must needs furnish
them.

The most skilful Architect, or Mathematician,
with all his Dexterity, cannot equal the Art of a
Bird in frjaming her Nest : Yet will the sagacious
Builder herself starve upon Eggs that are not her
own ; or purvey for a young one, that is an Enemy
to her Species, and which will ungratefully devour
its Foster Parent.

The Goose, or Gander, will give you a Mark of
Fortitude, and Conduct, in covering their squadling
Family from the Approaches of an Enemy ; but at
the same Time, they distinguish not an Enemy
from a Friend : but fall with equal Fury on the lat-
ter, when he comes to feed them to help or succour
them : Nay, will they often stupidly trample

them

[ 61 ]

them under their own Feet; or suffer them to
spraul and perish upon their Backs, without the
Sense to help them. What can be more careful of
her little one, than the Ewe ? Yet will she suffer it
to lie and expire in a small Pit, or Gutter, before
her Eyes, without so much Reflection, as to put a
single Foot to turn it on its Legs. No Master of
Defence can make a Shew of more Skill, or ad-
dress, to Strike or Paree, than a Game Cock ; but if
this was the Effect of Contrivance or Reason, he
would not give us the best Samples of it in his first
Battle ; nor would he exert, or waste his Labour
against an impenetrable Looking-Glass.

To these, and Ten Thousand other Instances of the
same Aspect, the Answer is obvious. It will soon
be replied, that these Animals have Reason, though in
a less Degree.

This is no more than an Evasion of the Ques-
tion ; for we are not talking of the Majus, or Minus,
but the Essence of Things : A Ploughman is as
much a rational Creature as Sir Isaac Newton, though
he has not acquired so many Ideas; nor laid up
so many Rules, Observations and Experiments, to
assist him in his Enquiries and Conclusions. The
same Principles, and Spring of Action, is in the
Fool, and the Philosopher. The Deliberation, Elec-
tion and Determination of the Mind, (however
different in Degree and Extent) puts each in Mo-
tion ; as the Eye of a Mole is no less an Eye (tho'
in so small a Compass) than that of an Eagle.
Though after all, if we were to judge by the Majns,
the Sagacity of Brutes in some Cases, would win
the Title of Rationality from Men.

It will be therefore urged, that this Faculty of
Brutes is right Reason ; only it is confined to par-
ticular Objects. I say then, it is not Reason ; for
that very cause it ceases to be so. For Reason, as
far as we know any Thing of it, is active, and

self-

[ 62 ]

self-moving ; not like dull Matter, confined to Ob-
jects ; but at Liberty to turn, and apply it self to
any Object presented to it. Reason, I say, has the
essential Power to perceive, to collect, remember
or compare any Object whatsoever, past or present;
and to judge, and conclude by Experience and Ana-
logy, though the present Case be perfectly riew, and
never thought of before.

The Ideas of the ignorant Shepherd are few ; yet
does he range them, calculate and conclude, with
the same natural (though not acquired) Faculties,
as the Jesuit or the Statesman. He esteems his
wanton spotted White-foot, above smutty Coll ; and
sets a greater Price on twenty, than on sixteen
Sheep ; by the same Notion of Beauty, and of Num-
bers, with which a Prince prefers a Diamond to a
Pebble, or computes his Power from the Multitude
of his Forces. But these brute Animals, (though
their Sagacity seems so much superior to Man him-
self) give not the least Sign of any Notion of
Number, Beautyj Symmetry, or Proportion. The
noisy Hen is not any way concern'd for the Chick
that is withdrawn, 'till the Cry of it enters her
Ears ; and my Lady's Beau Cupid is as violently
attracted by the Rank Smell of the dirty Shock, as
of the delicate perfumed Veny her self.

Ohj. It may still be pretended, that though it be
not Reason, like our own, that is the Motive of
Action in Brutes ; yet, however, it is a Reason, sni
generis ; a sort of Reason peculiar to the Species.

It may be so ; and it may not be so ! Be it what
it will, we know nothing of any but human Reason :
We have not the least Notion or Idea of any other ;
and therefore we had as good at last rest in the Word
Instinct, or nescio quid. I still say it is not what we
mean when we use the Word Reason, and therefore
I take leave to deny it the Name.

I re-

[ 63 ]

I remember Mr. Locke (in Support of his Hypo-
thesis, that Brutes have a sort of Reason, or that
Matter may think) makes use of a new Term (of
his own devising) and declares that the Impression
of an outward Object causes them to advert. Never
was there so delusive and empty an Evasion in-
vented by so learned and ingenious a Writer ! Mr.
Locke is dead and gone; but as he has many Ad-
mirers, Disciples, and Adorers, I desire some of
them to give us the Definition of this merry Term,
or to shew us what Ideas are annexed to it.

Is this Adversion merely corporeal? We shall
then multiply the species of Adveriers to infinite
Numbers, and be furnished not only with adverting
Dogs, Horses and Monkeys ; but Malt-Mills and
Weather-Cocks, Spinning- Wheels and Mouse-
Traps will put in for the Privilege : A Hundred
pretty Adverters are to be seen among the Toys of
Miss's Closet; and the most acute of them all is a
little Frog at the end of a crooked Wyre ina Box ;
which as soon as you offer to draw the Lid will
instantly advert, and snap you by the Finger.

Is it then the Mind, that sage Disputant meant is
adverted on the Impression ? I beg leave to-affirm,
that this Sense of the Word is nothing to his Pur-
pose. His Undertaking was to prove, that Matter
can think without a Mind ; and for this Reason (I
humbly conceive) he craftily avoided the good old
^ordi animadvert, the Signification of which is well
understood to be an adverting of the Mind. This
Animadversion he was wisely aware is peculiar to
Man, to Creatures endu'd with a rational Soul ; he
therefore made choice of the Word Adversion to
elude the Question, to lay hid under a Term that has
no explicit Meaning, and to rely upon the Candour of
his implicit Readers, who are very apt to take it for
granted there must be something of weight in every
Argument made use of by Mr. Locke. Let us then

E rest

r 64 ]

rest on so great an Authority ; and till we can hap-
pily procure from some of his acute Disciples an
Elucidation of the mysterious Term, let us imagine
all Animals have a hidden Faculty of adverthig: that
an old Fox upon the Impression of the Sound made
by the Horn, immediately adverts! Adverts! what
does he advert? why hhje-ne-scay-quoy: his natural
Instinct, his occult Quatity, or his sequinoctial Tinder-
Box.

This Notion of Reason in the Brute Creation is
yet more absurd and perplexing, if we consider the
infinite Variety of Animals in this Globe, and its
Atmosphere. If Mr. Locke, or any other penetrating
Virtuoso, could be so happy as to invent a sort of
Reason that might serve for the Motive of a Dog or
a Fox, there are still remaining innumerable Species
that will put in their Claim for our wise Society
of rational Creatures : and how endless will be their
Toil by that time they have provided for every
Rank of Swimmers, Quadrupeds, Volatiles and Rep-
tiles, a cogitating Power, suitable to their more or
less perfect Operations ; by that time they have in-
vented specifick Degrees and Methods of thinking for
Bats, Silk -worms, and Butterflies, for blind Beetles,
Earth-worms and Dew-snails, for the various Inha-
bitants that make their Abode in the Back of a Cow,
the Liver of a Sheep, or in a Glass of Vinegar? If
Reason and Reflection be assign'd to any one of these
Species, why not to all ? At what particular Step of
the Stairs will they make their Stand ? In what Part
of the Climax will they begin to retract this Immor-
tal Gift? If we couple with Man the Horse on which
he rides, why not also the V^orm in his Belly or the
Maggot in his Nose ?

These Difficulties have induc'd the Philosophers
(the generality at least) to compound the Matter,
by parting Stakes ; by giving up Sense to the other
Pretenders, and reserving /Jeasow to themselves; and

I think

[ 66 ]

I think at present most of our Schools have agreed
to rest in their Opinion, that a Brute is a meer Ani-
mal sensible ; that .he is not endu'd with Reason,
Reflection, and Deliberation, but with bare Sensa-
tion ; that he has his five Senses as we have, or in
much greater Perfection ; but that he is wholly
destitute of a reasonable Soul, to compare and cofn-
pute, to weigh, determine, and resolve.

This I say, if I understand Words or Writings, is
the receiv'd Opinion ; and this I admire should ever
be receiv'd by the Learned and Inquisitive ! I al-
ways suspect my own Judgment when I differ from
wise Men ; but I am obliged to own (tho' with great
Humility and profess'd Readiness to receive Instruc-
tion) that I cannot comprehend an Anima mere sen-
sibilis ; and the more I think of it, the more unintel-
ligible and impossible it appears in my Thoughts.

We must judge of Reason and Sense in other Crea-
tures, as I said before, by our own Measure, and by
what we perceive of these Faculties in ourselves.
Now I desire to be inform 'd what any Man can
make of his Senses if he loses his Reason ? It may
be said of such, they have Eyes and see not ; or see-
ing, they see, and not perceive ! A Wench in a Fit,
a Man in a deep Sleep, both have their Senses, (that
is, the Organs of them) unimpair'd, yet are these
Instruments of Sensation useless ; nor have they any
Knowledge of the Voice that calls them, or the Hand
that touches them, because their reasoning or think-
ing Faculty is laid up or intercepted.

To this it may be reply'd (but very hardly prov'd)
that the Sound is heard and the Stroke felt, but not
remeinbefd afterwards. If heard and felt, why not
remember'd ? The Naturalists tell us, that every sen-
sible Impression of moment (that is, as I would say,
of such moment as to awaken the Mind) leaves a
Trace on the Brain ; the rational Perusal or Contem-
plation of which Traces afterwards is what we call

E 2 Memory.

[ 66 ]

Memory. If then the sensible Impression was made
by my Hand or Voice, why does not the waking
Man remember that I loudly call'd him Knave in
his Sleep ? And why do not those Gripes that are
visible upon the Arms of the reviving Wench leave
no. Marks upon her Brains? It is very plain her
Skin was bruis'd, her Nerves disturb'd, and all the
Organs of Sensation affected ; and I think it hard
to assign a Cause for her not remembring, but only
that the Absence or Requiescence of her thinking
Faculty disabled her to feel it.

But to go a Step farther ! A Mathematician is
broad awake, but has his Mind deeply engag'd in a
Problem. At this time the Bell loudly summons him
to Prayers, and he hears it not ; his Man openly lays
before him his Shirt or his Breakfast, and he sees
it not ; and so closely is he attach'd to his Lines
and Figures, that he feels not the Gout that is
gnawing his Toe, nor the Itch fretting between his
Fingers.

Well, but he sees, hears, and feeh the several
Objects, but perceives it not, for want of Attention.

Attention ! What is that ? In what Sense must we
take the Word? The only Signification I know of it
is, the Application of his Reason to the Object. Well
then, the Non-application of Reason deprives him of
his Senses ; and does not the total want of Reason do
at least as much ? If it be a just Conclusion, the Man
cannot see who does not think ; is not this much
juster, and stronger, the Beast sees not, because he
cannot think ? If the Man who has his Feet in the
Stocks cannot walk, certainly the Disability would
not be less if he had no Feet at all. If one that
shuts his Eyes is not capable of seeing, 'tis strange
to assert that one that has no Eyes can see clearly.

This Argument is farther enforc'd by considering
the Actions of Ideots and Lunaticks (Terms only
applicable to rational Beings.) Wholly destitute of

Reason

[ 67 ]

Reason and Reflection 'tis plain they are not ; but 'tis
equally evident that their Senses are impair'd in Pro-
portion with their Reason ; nor can we imagine the
Wretch who bruises his own Head, or eats his own
Dung has much Taste or Feeling. The Soph will an-
swer me, these miserable Creatures do taste and feel, but
their Reason is impair'' d, that they do not distinguish or
collect the Causes of that Pain or Ill-savour. This Dis-
tinction still recurs to the former Absurdity. If the
Weakness or Remission of Reason hinders a Man
from discerning his Food from his Excrements, can
a Brute, wholly depriv'd of Reason, discern better ?
The hungry Dog is not able to consider and collect
the Causes and the Consequences of Pain, yet we see
him not devouring his own Dung, or gnawing his
own Flesh. The Senses of the Man, as allow'd in the
Objection, become useless to him by the Distraction
or Confusion of his rational Soul: Can it be then
argu'd that the Senses alone, without any rational
Soul, are a sufficient Guide, or any Guide, at all to
other Animals ?

The judicious Mr. Locke has pretty well convinc'd
the learned World that all our Knowledge and Intel-
ligence of Things is from Sensation and Reflection. But
he could not but be conscious that the former is no-
thing without the latter, and that it is impossible his
favourite Brutes can possess or enjoy the Gift of Sen-
sation, unless he was so generous as to super-add a
Faculty something like Reflection. This Difficulty,
I suppose, caused him to strain his Invention for the
Term Advert, in hopes his humble Readers would be
satisfied with the Novity of the Word, and credu-
lously admit that the Creatures have a Power to do
something (No-body knows what, till the Term be
explain'd) more than see and hear. But 'tis hard to
conceive Seeing and Hearing without the Adversion]
or Application of the Mind ; and 1 could never yet
meet with an Argument to convince me that they

can

I 68 ]

can be sensible, till they are first prov'd to be rational
Animals.

What are these Organs of the Senses but meer
Matter ; Pipes, or Vessels of Flesh, Membrane, or
Humour, disposed to convey the Object to a View
and Consideration of the Mind? Nor are any of those
Organs of the least Effect (in Man) if by Disease,
or any other Accident or Impediment the Object is
stopt or intercepted in its way thither. 'Till the
Thought is awaken'd the Sound is not heard, the
Wound felt, or the Stink perceived ; and my Spec-
tacles are Eyes to me as much as those in my Head,
unless the Rays of Light have Power to stir up my
Reflection. 'Tis true the Brutes have these Organs
of Sense in great Perfection (the Use of them I
shall consider anon;) but 'till they can reason and
reflect upon the Object, they cannot properly be
said (as we understand the Words) to see or hear it.

But supposing an Animal without Thought or Rea-
son could be endu'd with sense : What would he do
with it ? What Use could he make of it? Or how is
it possible he could be the better for it? We perceive
clearly in ourselves (and by ourselves we can only
judge) that the Senses are but Attendants and Appa-
ritors to the Mind. The Sound enters my Ears, but
I know not what is the Cause of it, how far distant,
on which side it comes, or what it portends, till I
have mentally consider'd it. A visible Body may
cast its Picture upon the Retina of my Eye, as on the
dark Wall of the CaineraClausa; nor is the one Figure
of more Use and Instruction to me than the other,
till it enters my Thoughts, till rational Computa-
tions and Conclusions are made as to Magnitude,
Medium, and Distance, Degrees of Light, Reflection,
or Refraction. The minute Particles of Taste or Smell
pierce the Pores of my Tongue, Palate, or olfactory
Nerves ,• but they have further to go, and must reach
to my Brain, and undergo the Examination of the

supream

[ 69 ]

supream Judge, before I can discern, reject, or
approve. The crossing of two Fingers to feel a Pea
in the Pahn of my other Hand plainly puts a trick
upon that Sense; and my Reason itself would also be
beguiled by the false Intelligence, and conclude that
Pea to be two, did I not think again and again,
recollect that I put but one there, and that the Delu-
sion consists in crossing my Fingers. Thus fallible
and treacherous would be the ministerial Senses,
were it not for the superior Wisdom of the Sovereign
Mind. It is this only that passes Judgment on the
Good or Evil of the presented Object; according to
the Representations of this nobler Light we hope or
fear, we covet or abhor it; at the Directions of the
same our Resolutions are fixed, our Muscles filled
with Spirits, and our Limbs set in proper Motion to
pursue or avoid it. The Figure of a Buck is darted
through the crystalline Humour of the Greyhound's
Eye ; but can this Impression, meerly sensible, inform
him that the Buck is the Prey to be desired by him-
self or his Master; or is it this way able to set all
his Joints in the most violent Motion to pursue and
take it? Suppose the poor Hare hears and sees the
approaching Hound; yet can these Eyes and Ears
convince her that the Hound is her Enemy? Can
they, as bare Senses, excite in her that incomparable
Swiftness, those politick Shifts, Turns and Doubles
she makes to escape him? All this cannot be the
Effect of bare Sensation; nor would that Privilege,
without concurring Reflection, serve to the Defence
of any other Animal, any more than it does of a
Child or Ideot, who, suppose him to see the Cart
coming, yet has not Consideration enough to go out
of its way.

We find in our selves, that meer Sensation avails
nothing towards Self-preservation, without the
Assistance *of the superior Faculty: Nor could the
feeling of Disease or Pain, be of any Consequence,

but

[ 70 ]

but to increase our Misery; were not such feeling
the Information of the Mind, which alone is able to
devise Means to rectify the Disorder.

How wretched then must be the Circumstances
of irrational Animals, especially those made for Bur-
den and Slaughter, if they were possessed of a sen-
sible Soul, a Power to feel their Pain and Misery?
These dumb Creatures must needs be innocent, as
they are incapable of Laws; as they have no Notion
of moral Good or Evil: Yet is their Punishment (if
they can be said to be punished, that have no
Reflexion) beyond the greatest Malefactor. The
Ox labours, the Cow gives Milk, their whole Lives,
for the Food of their Tyrants, and are at last ingrate-
fully brought to the Slaughter by those whom they
nourished. The Horse groans under the Pack-saddle
or Traces of the hard-hearted Carrier or Hackney
Coachman; has his Skin furrowed, or his Heart
broken by a Jockey or Huntsman; and at last is
sacrificed to the Bellies of the Dogs he so painfully
followed. What Justice is this? Or how can such
Tyranny and Barbarity be defended by lordly Man,
if he believe the Creatures he so uses, are sensible of
their Misery?

It is pleaded that these Animals were created for
the Service and Pleasure of Man. This I grant ; but
let it be remembered also, that the God of infinite
Wisdom and Goodness extends his Providence to
the meanest of the Creation: And 'tis hard, if not
impious, to suppose, that he designed Suffering with-
out Offence or Retribution: That he wou'd endue
his Creatures with Sensation of Misery, without
Means to avoid it. There is indeed within them a
Principle, as I shall shew, of Self- Preservation; and
it is the Interest of their Lord and Master to protect
them. But the wise Creator must needs foresee,
that many of these Masters would prove Tyrants ;
that they wou'd unmercifully load and slash them ;

wound

• [ 71 ]

v/ound them in their Fury ; or starve them out of
Avarice.

I take this to be a moral Objection against the
anima sensibilis of Brutes, at least in the Opinions of
Divines, and good Christians: But for Libertines,
Scepticks, and mere Philosophers, I again refer them
to what is said above, and desire them to shew what
Sensation is ; how it can subsist destitute of Reason ;
or what Use or Advantage can be made of it by the
thoughtless Possessor.

This Caution, however, let me lay down for my
sage Opponent. Let him resolve before-hand, what
Propositions to grant, and what to deny ; whether
Sensation be, or be not an Act of the Mind? Whe-
ther the Creatures can act by Reason, who have no
rational Soul ? And whether Arguments that tend
to prove them furnished with Thought, Foresight
and Sagacity, be fitly brought to support the
Hypothesis of the anima sensibilis?

I have often seen warm Disputants intangle them-
selves in these Contradictions. They freely disclaim
all Pretences to Reason in the Soul of Brutes ; but
every Instance they give of their Motions, their
Actions, or their Memory, proves them to be
moved and guided by Reason, or proves nothing.
This must be a Demonstration of the Perplexity
of their Notions, or the Absurdity of their Hy-
pothesis.

Thus far of Negatives! 'Tis now time to propose
something that may supply the Place of that Reason
and Sensation I have labour'd to remove, and to shew
positively what may be the fundamental Cause of
Action in Animals irrational and insensible.

My Opinion is, that they are mere Machines ; mere
material Engines : and, like all Matter, put into mo-
tion in a mechanical way hy other Matter acting upon
them. I desire to be understood in the literal Sense,
all tricking and double Entendre is no less detestable

in

[ 72 ]

in an Author than a Merchant. I therefore avoid all
obscure, ambiguous, and equivocal Terms, and say
again, that I suppose a Brute {v. g. a Dog or a Horse)
to be as real a Machine as the Pen I write with, and
equally unable to move or act without the Applica-
tion of some outward Force. The Universe itself is
a grand Machine of this nature ; all its various mo-
tions consist in one Body's impelling or attracting
another; and though the Cause of this original attrac-
tive Power be never to be accounted for, but from
the arbitrary Will of the great Creator, yet it is begg'd,
granted, and made use of by the greatest Philosopher,
in order to solve and account for the stupendous Phae-
nomena of Nature. T desire then but the same Postu-
lata; that one corporeal Substance, how small soever,
may impel, thrust, or push forward another ! that
there may be a'relative attractive Virtue in the least
Particles of Matter ; that those Bodies that we term
ammal or living are made of Matter, and subject to the
common Accidents and Properties of it; I say,
granting these (which I think were never yet
deny'd) I hope to account for the Motions of Brutes,
and to make it probable that all their Operations are
passive and mechanical, without occasion of intro-
ducing Reason or Sensation to their Aid.

The Machines, 'tis true, of human Invention have
their Cause more visible; and their Motion may be
supposed to be easily accounted for by those that
made them; yet are they still put into motion by
an artificial Imitation of the general Laws of Nature,
by Attraction and Impulsion. A Ship is visibly drawn
into the Harbour, for we see the Cable; we as readily
grant that it is driven by the Wind ; tho' we cannot
tell whence it cometh, or whither it goeth, nor
hardly what it is. The Bell sounds by the pulling
of a Rope; the Jack turns by the Gravity of the
Weights; and the Quicksilver rises by the Im-
pression of the Air. Thus do we admit and make

use

[ 73 ]

use of the Creator's Laws of Mechanism, Attraction,
and Gravity in Engines of our own, and yet deny
him the Use of them himself. We draw Gutters in
Confidence the Water will readily run down and over-
flow our Meadows : We charge our Mortars, trust-
ing the Powder will hoist them into the Air, and that
they will descend with fatal Violence in the hostile
Camp : Why then do we distrust the like Virtue or
Effect in the Engines made by an omnipotent Hand ?
Why may not the Rays of Light reflected from the
Body of a pursuing Greyhound have as much Power
on a Hare (as a Blast of Gunpowder on a sluggish
Ball of Lead or Iron) to excite in her that swift Mo-
tion for which she w^as formed ? And why may not
the grateful Effluvia of a fresh Pasture attract my
hungry Horse over the Hedge ? It is but Tautology
to reply in this Place, that it is the Sight of the Dog
or Smell oiihe Pasture, that excite these Motions.
We are now supposing such Creatures to have no
Mind, and (as all Sensation is an Act of the Mind)
that they neither can see nor smell.

Obj. Of what Use then are their Eyes and Noses ;
and why has the wise Creator bestow'd these Senses
upon them.

' I say again, these Eyes and Ears, &c. are not them-
selves Senses, but so called from being Organs of
Sensation to rational Creatures ; and tho' these Or-
gans are in high Perfection, of the greatest Use, and
even necessary to the regular Motions of the Posses-
sors, yet they operate only in a mechanical way,
and serve for no more than Pipes and Channels to
admit or convey those Particles of Matter that enter,
excite, attract, or impel those inward Nerves that
are proper to perform the several Actions. The Par-
ticles of Scent ejected or transmitted from the hunted
Hare pass thro' the Tubes of the Beagles Nostrils,
strike upon their Brains, and set every Nerve in
their natural Motion, with no more Knowledge or

Sense

[ 74 ]

Sense in the Flyer or Pursuers than there is in the
Arrow that Springs from the Bow-string, or in the
Needle that so amorously follows the Loadstone.
The blowing in a Trumpet gives a Vibration or Un-
dulation to the ambient Air ; the elastic Element
communicates the Concussion to the Ears of the
Horse ; thence it proceeds to the Primum Mobile, or
the first Spring or Wheel of the Nervous Engine, and
raises that eager and chearful Motion that is the
Pride of the Rider : But why should this Effect be
thought strange and incredible, when every House-
wife can tell you, that a like Concussion in a greater
degree (as from Cannons, Thunder, &c.) will as sud-
denly turn aVessel of Milk or sowre a Barrel of Octo-
ber ; when we all are Witnesses to the Clattering of
our Windows and the Trembling of the whole Build-
ing on such terrible Occasions ? Why should we doubt
that the Rays of Light reflected from a Bull are the
mechanical Cause of the Dog's raging and breaking
his Collar ; when we see every Day the same Rays
have Power to make the Tree blossom, the Mary gold
openitsHead, orbyasmall Refraction and Collection
through a Glass to set a House on fire ? 'Tis true the
Motions in Animal Matter are generally in much
greater Perfection than in a Log or Plant ; nor is it
any Wonder that infinite Wisdom should contrive
various Instances of his Skill (no more than that the
same Carpenter that built the House should make a
Wheelbarrow ;) all that we suppose is, that they are
all put in motion after the same ways, the Laws of
Mechanism. However (enpassantj let us remember
that the Motions of some mere Vegetables are very
near equal to (if not exceeding) the Motions of
many which are called Animals.

Obj. But to speak only of the more perfect Ani-
mals, in what Particular (unless that of Speech) do
they differ from Man ? The Actions of one as well as
the other seem to be spontaneous, and to proceed

from

[ 75 ]

from Deliberation, Choice, and Resolution ; each
have the same Senses, and both make the same Use
of them. We are Eye-witnesses that a Dog or a
Monkey will avoid Evil and follow Good, adhere to
their Friend and fly from their Enemy, with v^qual
Inclination and Aversion, and perhaps more Discre-
tion than the Squire or his Huntsman.

This Argument is much like the Logick of my
Friend Timothy^ an honest Parish-Clerk, who hav-
ing been at the Assizes to see Fashions, came Home
and peremptorily affirmed to his Reverend Master,
that all the Beau powdered Grand- Jury were Free
Masons ! Why ? because they had their Heads plais-
tered. The wiser Vicar made a reply, that I must
desire to borrow upon this Occasion, Oh! Timothy,
judge not by Appearance !

The Objection is nothing but Appearance. All
that is incumbent on me to do, is to shew how
these Actions or Operations that in Appearance re-
semble those of reasonable Creatures, may be per-
formed, according to my Hypothesis, in a mecha-
nical way.

As to ourselves, we perceive clearly that the
outward Object (of Sight, Taste, Sound, &c.) pier-
ces through our Organs of Sensation, awakens the
Reflection of our Soul or Mind ; that this Sove-
reign Mind passes Sentence of Love or Hatred,
Desire or Aversion ; and by an Act of willing or
resolving, immediately dispatches a Detachment of
Spirits into the Muscles, proper to perform the
Action. Let us see then how the same Action
may be performed by a Creature destitute of a
Mind, and consequently of Sensation that depends
upon it. Suppose then the sensible Object to do
its own Work without the Intervention of this ra-
tional Mediator ; suppose it to pass thro' the seve-
ral proper Organs of Sensation (as. we call them)
to make its immediate Impulse on the Brain, to

strike

[ 76 ]

strike on the top or head-Spring of those sprightly
Nerves, that extend through the whole Body ; with
Power to carry the Motions first impressed on them-
selves to every Member. The gentlest touch on
the String of a Harpsicord, will give a Vibration
to the whole Length of it : Stretch a Line of ever
so great Length, every Pluck is communicated from
one End to the other. A Stone cast into the Water,
or a Whistle in the Air, would go on, and undu-
late, ad infuiitum, were it not for the Opposition of
other Bodies, that impede their Progress. And have
any of these greater Elasticity, or a better Spring
than the Nerves of an Animal ? Can any Thing
move with greater Nimbleness, or on more slight
Impressions ? A Bee stings the top of my Finger :
How soon is the Injury convey'dto my Brain ; and
thence a Command dispatch'd to my Feet, to fly
from my Enemy ? 'Tis true, this is done in a hu-
man Creature, by the Intervention of the Mind.
And why may it not, by an Animal Machine, with-
out any Mind at all ? Why may not the Sting of
the same Insect, communicate Motion to the Legs
of a Dog, as well as the pulling a Trigger bestow
such mortal Fury on the Musket ; or the moving a
Piece of Wood administer Sound to a Thousand Or-
gan Pipes?

The several Servants of a regular Family, may
perform their Office in the Absence of their Mas-
ter : The Ship's Crew may do the same, though
there be no Pilot : Nor is it more difficult to con-
ceive, that a Machine may be formed by infinite
Power, where each Ministerial Spring or Muscle,
may occasionally operate, according to every Kind
and Degree of external Impulse, without the help
of Thinking, or being conscious of what they
do.

That animal Joints, Nerves and Sinews, may
possibly act (and Possibility is all I need to prove)

with-

C 77 J

without the Concurrence of the Mind, we may be
convinced, by looking once more into our selves.
We cannot be ignorant, that great part of our
bodily Vessels perform their Offices in this spon-
taneous Way ; that they go on mechanically to
move, or be moved, without the Direction, nay,
sometimes contrary to the Command of the Imperial
Mind. Do not our Bowels spirate, our Hearts beat,
our Blood circulate, our Lungs play, our Eyes wink,
without Thought or Design? Do we not blush,
look pale, or tremble much against our Wills?
And have not the invisible Effluvia of a Cat, a
roasting Pig, or a piece of Cheese, an irresistible
Influence on some human Bodies, so far as to make
them sweat and sicken, and even to suspend their
vital Operations ; yea, though the impressing Object
is not seen, or thought of, or though right Reason
persuades, that no Danger is at Hand ?

Obj. I expect to be told with very great Assu-
rance, that this is nothing but the Effect of a secret
Antipathy in Nature.

Antipathy is a ha"d Word, and may do Wonders :
B ut before I grant it this extraordinary Power, let
us first endeavour at a Definition of it. By con-
sulting the Learned, that have made Use of it, I

find it to be an occult an occult something that

makes one Thing naturally hate and loath another
Thing. But what is that something ? Why, it is
natural Antipathy.

Non amo te, Sabidi, nee possum dicere quare.
What a Simpleton was Martial, that he cou'd not
tell the Cause of his Aversion ? He hated because
he cou'd not love ; he cou'd not love, because he
hated. Thus far we have made a fair Progress in
Words, though but little in Sense.

But Antipathy is a venerable Word, of a Greek
Original, and must not be parted with without farther
Respect and Consideration : And I hope for Pardon

from

[ 78 ]

from the Criticks and Grammarians, if I lay hold
on so lucky an Occasion of shewing my Brother
Hunters a small Sample of my great Learning.

Antipathy I take to be of the same Parentage
with Sympathy; though they are always Opposites.
As the Latin Construction oi Sympathy is compassio;
so the other, I think, may as well be translated
contra-passio. The former signifies in plain English^
having the same Passions, or suffering with ; the
latter having contrary Passions, or suffering contrary
to the Object. For as oft as I share my Friend's
Fortunes ; when I grieve with his Grief, or rejoice
with his Joy, I may be said ^vfiTradeh', compati, to
sympathise with him : But at such Time as I fret
and repine at my Neighbour's Felicity, or triumph
at his Misery or Misfortunes, I am as properly
said avTivaMv, contrapati, or to antipathise against
him.

But the worst on't is, this sort of Antipathy im-
plies Reflection, Thought and Reason, and cannot
well be applied to the Case before us. It cannot be
the Cause of the rumbling of a Man's Entrails at the
Effluvia of a Cheshire Cheese, unless we allow them
also this Privilege of Adverting, or Cogitation :
Unless the Man be supposed to have Brains in his
Guts, as well as Guts in his Brains.

However, I must grant there is another Sense,
a metaphorical Sense of this Greek Noun ; and when
one Body, or Portion of Matter, operates upon
another (in a mechanical Way) so as to disturb,
divide, corrupt or destroy it (as Jollap on the Bowels,
Poison on the Blood, or Irish Earth on a Toad) it
is not improperly said (though figuratively) that
there is an Antipathy between them. If this be the
Idea of natural Antipathy in the Objection before
us, I grant it my Opponents, and desire them to
make the best of it.

But

[ 79 ]

But there is yet one more Meaning of the Term,
which has been of manifest Service to great Au-
thors ; and which I allow my sagacious Adversaries
to make Use of, as oft as they are hard put to't ;
or when they are apprehensive of unlucky Conse-
quences by Admission of either of the former : And
that Aleaningis a Meaning to cover their own Igno-
rance, or the Absurdity of their Notions ; a Mean-
ing to explain to their humble Readers, what they
do not understand themselves.

But since the Greek is so comprehensive a Lan-
guage, and of such sovereign Use towards the Elu-
cidation of our English Philosophy, I shall not con-
ceal, that by great good Fortune, as well as extra-
ordinary Labour and Diligence, I have light upon a
Phrase in old Horner (The Fountain of Knowledge)
which is perfectly synonimous and equivocal with
Antipathy in this last Acceptation : And when I am
interrogated, why, or how my Nerves are disordered
by the Screeching of Iron, or my Stomach turned at
the Smell of a Cheese (if I cannot maintain my
vulgar Hypothesis, that this is a mere Mechanical
Operation) I put on a Significant, Philosophical
Phiz, and reply gravely, it is a tov c dwaixtiiidixtvoq.

But if this Objection of natural Antipathy be of
no Weight ; if my Bowels spirate at an offensive
Vapour, by material Impulse ; if it be granted,
that there is so much of the Machine in human and
rational Creatures ; What difficulty is there in sup-
posing, that other Animals are wholly so ? Espe-
cially if we consider, that the Organs of the latter
are much finer and perfecter than our own ; that
their Motions and Actions are more regular
and uniform ; neither exhausted by Constancy,
nor distracted by (so great a) Variety of Em-
ploy. We, who have a Mind, and consequently are
led by Imagination, Judgment, Choice and Will,

[ 80 ]

are subject to be deceived, to be mistaken in Ob-
jects, or our Pursuits after them ; and of Course to
degenerate into Folly or Lunacy ; (the latter, I
conceive, consisting in a false Imagination, the for-
mer in a wrong Judgment and Conclusion). But
the Creatures that move by the Laws of Mecha-
nism, must move constantly, as we find they do,
according to the Goodness and Perfection of their
Frame, and in Proportion to the Force of the exter-
nal Impulse. The Cobler fancies himself to be a
Prince, and expects to be worshipped ; the Fool
concludes a Hobby-Horse better than a Piece of
Gold, and shews all his Teeth in making the Pur-
chase : But the Jack regularly turns the Spit, if the
Wheels be even, and the Weight sufficient ; and
my Repeater tells me faithfully what it struck last,
when I pull the String.

Obj. But are all the sagacious Actions of Brutes,
the Shifts they make, the Tricks they play, to be
plainly accounted for in a mechanical way ?

What if they are not ? How unlikely is it they
should ? How can we expect that short-sighted Mor-
tals should see to the Extent of infinite Power? But
shall we dare to deny every Fact and Effect of
which we cannot clearly describe the Cause and
way of Operation? I have heard of a Clock (at Stras-
burgh I think) that goes a Hundred Years at one
winding up, in which at the Hour of Twelve the
Twelve Apostles walk out in view each with an
Hammer in his Hand, and striking the Bell walk in
again ; at Nine the Nine Muses ; at Seven the seven
wise Men of Greece do the same ; and for Warnings
at the half or quarter-Hours, a Cock claps his Wings
and crows, a Lion opens his Jaws and roars, and so
on, with variety of Sounds as well as visible Figures
for the whole twelve Hours : (whether this be a true
Relation or not, it is enough that such an Under-
taking is within the Power of Mechanism.) Now let

an

[ 81 ]

an Hotentot stand and stare at this Machine a Month
together, and will he believe that all this is perform-
ed by meer Brass and Iron, without an Hand near it?
Again, the Clown is at a Puppet-Shew, comes
Home and tells his Cousin Margery that he is sure
little Punch is alive^ for he saw him move his very
Lips and Eyes. And does not that Philosopher ar-
gue no better than the Clown or the Hotentot, who
maintains his Dog must be sensible or rational, be-
cause he is notable to account for the motion, when
at the Word of Command he goes back for a Glove,
or leaps over a Stick.

How far will this Scepticism carry us if we suffer
it to lead us in all our Speculations ? We feel, and
confess within ourselves a rational Soul ; but can
this Faculty look into itself, or give an Account of
its own Operations ? Can we pretend to describe or
conceive how the outward Objects, that are purely
material, are able to affect, disturb, and put in mo-
tion an immaterial Substance ? Or can we shew in
what manner this immaterial Substance again in its
Turn makes its Impression on material Bones, Nerves,
and Sinews, and puts them in Action ? It seems to
me much easier to apprehend the Influence of one
Body or one Particle of Matter on another, than to
conceive how either can affect or be affected by an
invisible Soul or Spirit. The former we daily see
with our Eyes, experience with our Hands, and form
all our Instruments, Experiments, and Arguments
upon the Supposition ; the other also we take for
granted, though the Matter how is beyond our Ex-
plication. The fair Fruit on the Trees enters my
Eyes, excites my Desire, determines my Mind, and
this Mind fills my Muscles, extends my Arm, and
contracts my Fingers ; must I not believe that this
is really done till I can tell how ?

A Set of Organs is a meer Machine ; we know
the Maker, we see the Organist, and so the Wonder

F 2 ceases.

[ 82 ]

ceases. But suppose a Set could be so contrived as to
play a Tune without an immediate Hand or Bellows,
by the Impulse of the North Wind, or by the
Influence of the Moon, or some unknown Planet
(Part of this may not be out of the reach of human
Art; it must all be allowed to be within the Com-
pass of Omnipotence) now would such an Instru-
ment cease to be a Machine, because it would be hard
to be accounted for? Or would a wise Philosopher
endue it with Sensation, Thought and Reflection to
cover his Ignorance? If such variety of Sounds
with unintelligible Stops and Movements may be
supposed in an Organ, why not in the Pipes of a
little Bird, or the Throat of a Hound? If invisible
Particles of Matter may strike and play upon the
artificial Wind-pipes, why not on the natural?

Obj. But the Dog discovers the Passions and Ap-
petites proper to a reasonable Being ; we behold in
him a Love to his Master, a Fear of the Whip, a
Rage at Injuries, an Uneasiness at Confinement,
Sagacity and Contrivance to come by his Prey, his
Liberty, or his Female.

These are only Words spoken gratishy^i Catachre-
sis, or used by necessity, for want of proper Terms.
Every received Art, Science, or Opinion, has its tech-
nical Terms peculiarly adapted and ratified by
Custom ; it is therefore no Wonder that in the vulgar
way of speaking we have ascribed to Animals the
Passions and Affections of sensible Beings, since all
over the World they have been admitted for such :
Nor is it to be expected, but a Person who shall go
about to introduce a new System to prove them
Machines, must have great DiflSculty to find Words
to express his Notions and make himself intelligible.

However, if the Constancy of the Dog to his
Master is to be named Love, I hope it may be said
with the same Indulgence, that the magnetick
Needle loves the North. If it be Fear that makes

Smoker

[ S3 ]

Smoker fly before the Whip, why then not the same
Passion in Chaff when the Corn is winnowed? Was
ever a Cur shut up in a Kennel in a greater Rage
than windy Ale imprison'd in a Bottle? No Male
Animal is more violently inclin'd to the Act of
Generation than a rowling Stone to the Bottom of
the Hill; nor can any Creature be more obstinate
and subtle for his Food or Sport, than a River is to
find out its way (do what we can to stop it) into the
Bosom of the Deep. The one half of these Instances
every one allows to be the common Effects of Im-
pulse or Attraction ; and why the others may not be
the same, I desire to be informed.

ObJ. But this better Sort of Animals discover to
us a Bocihility in their Nature that argues Sensation ;
they frequently act by Habit etnd Memory; nay, they
seem to dream, and give the Marks of spontaneous
Motion in their Sleep, when external Objects are
not probably capable of giving the Impulse.

Look into the Water-works of my Lord's Garden,
and you will perceive a Docibility in that liquid Ele-
ment; and never did a Spaniel of Mr. William Wi^nple
perform his Feats with more Readiness or Activity
than the numerous Cocks, Springs, and Tubes (the
Veins and Arteries if you will so call them) of that
watry Machine. Besides this, the Gardiner will tell
you there is a Docibility in his Plants also, if taught
to bend and obey whilst they are young; but if
they are permitted to continue long in a wrong
Posture, like an old Dog, they are hardly broken and
reduced to Order: They will also learn to extend
their Roots to that Part of the Soil where is most
Moisture or Nourishment; to crouch, and avoid the
Fury of the West- Wind ; to bend their Branches and
decline their Heads to shun the Oppressions of an
over-shadowing Neighbour; and the sensible Plant
(so called on this Account) will visibly shrink from
the abhorred Touch of human Fingers.

The

^ [ 84 ]

The Word Memory is often used to express that
which is no more than habit : for it is only the
Effect of long Practice, or the Revolution of the
same Causes. The Dog fawns upon his old Master,
and snarls at one that has formerly affronted him;
and this is called Memory. But what is more than
the Object's striking upon the same Set of Nerves
which were before affected or impelled by it, and
easily renewing those Motions it had raised before?
Thus the Sap of the Tree remembers to rise at the
return of the friendly Sun; thus will our own
Stomach turn and nauseate at the sight of a Dish of
Meat that has formerly offended it ; and our Bowels
will resume their peristaltick Motion at the Fumes
of a Drug that has been used to offend them. By
daily Practice the Ape comes to be ready in the
Feats that were with Difficulty taught him; so does
the Soil become the more flexible and obedient to
the Harrows by frequent Labour; the Bowl grows
smooth by running; the Hinge by turning; and
you may often see in a Country Crowdero his Fingers
and Fiddle-Stick mechanically going on with a
Health to Betty after the mental Musician is ceased,
Somno vignoq; aepultus. 'Tis true those Fingers were
first taught to play by Reason, and so was the Ape
to dance, tumble, or shoulder, his Musket, by his
dextrous Master. I only take notice, that these
Actions, which were artfully infused, are mecha-
nically performed. A perpetual Iteration of the
same Motions sets the Joints, Nerves and Sinews
of the thoughtless Animal (as well as the Fingers of
the sleeping Fidler) into a customary Posture, and
Aptness to repeat them, upon the usual Word or
Object striking on the Nerves of the Eyes, Ears, <&c.

The ingenious Mr. Locke, to prove the Adversion
of his material Animals, gives a very notable Instance
of a Bird that could imitate a Tune it had heard
some Days before. This he is pleased to call Memory.

But

[ 85 ]

But the same Memory (though in a less perfect
degree) has my Parish-Tovv^er, which has been often
heard to answer to my Dogs, and to hallow to my
Huntsman. The Length of Time 'tis true makes
some difference betwixt the Bird and the Echo, but
not more difference than there is betwixt the Arti-
ficers that formed the several Machines; and it may
well be supposed, that if a Mason (who is but Clay
himself) can build a Wall to imitate a Sound after
one Moment, the eternal Creator may contrive an
Instrument able to produce the same Effect at a
much greater Distance. It is no way incredible but
the sounding Object may leave its Traces on the
exquisitely fine Nerves of an Animal made for
natural Musick, which on any fresh Motion or Im-
pression may probably exert themselves in Modula-
tion of the same Parts, or Repetition of the same
Notes. The Impulses of the same Objects that
accompanied the Tune when it first enter'd the Brains
of the little winged Instrument, are very likely to
affect the same Parts again, and cause an Emission
ofthesame Degrees and Proportions of Wind, which
I take to be all the Musick a Bird is capable of.

I knew a Creature (Mr. Locke will not allow me to
call him Man) born of human Parents, so much an
Ideot as to have no Knowledge of Good or Evil, nor
hardly Power to utter his few Words with any Arti-
culation, who yet upon being flattered or offer'd an
Half-penny, would creep into a dark Hole behind an
old Oven and there imitate the Crowing of a Cock,
the Barking of a Dog, the Squawling of a Peacock,
or the Scolding of two Old Women, more exactly
than any of our Stage-Mimicks. T shall not enter
into a long Descant on this astonishing Faculty, but
only ask my candid Readers these plain Questions.

If Reason and Reflection be necessary to Imita-
tion, how could this Ideot do it better than a rational

Man?

If

[ 86 ]

If an Ideot with very little, if any Sense or Re-
flection, can imitate a Sound more perfectly than a
reasonable Man, why may not an Animal without
any at all do it at least as well ?

As to the boasted Objection of the pretended
Dreams of sleeping Dogs ; all this may probably be
no other than the gentle Agitations caused by those
minute Particles of Matter that entered his' several
Organs when waking, or as he is lying in a State
less subject to more perfect Impressions ; or at best
these Motions he so faintly exerts, are but to be
compared to the tremulous Bubblings or Hissings of
a Vessel of Liquor after its more violent Working is
ceased.

I know upon a Discourse of this nature there are
a Thousand more Questions to be ask'd, and Stories
to be told. Every Person will play the Orator (if
not the Poet) set forth the Virtues, and plead for an
Exemption of his favourite Animal. I should never
have done should I enter on the Detail of particular
Cases; what I have said in general I believe will
satisfy every candid Reader. However, as my aim
is Information and Discovery of Truth, I shall always
be ready impartially to consider any Difficulty of
this nature that a Gentleman or Scholar shall lay
before me.

But suppose Instances of Brutish Sagacity are very
hardly to be accounted for, I must beg Leave not to
think my Supposition entirely overthrown, before it
be involved in as great Absurdities as that of the
Rationality of the Sensibility of these Creatures. If it
appears impossible they should think or feel; a bare
Possibility of their acting as Machines will justly
take place. In all other Cases where our Sight falls
short, we judge by Analogy. We readily agree
there are the same Circulations and Motions in the
Body of a Mite as of an Elephant, though the Dis-
section of the former is beyond the Extent of our

Hands

[ 87 ]

Hands and Instruments. We take the Word of our
modern Virtuoso's, that there are Animalcules so
small, that a Thousand of them may encamp them-
selves upon the Point of a Needle ; and in Ages to
come perhaps Glasses may be invented, that may
discover the Existence of much smaller Generations.
Human Wisdom has its Bounds and Limits, and
therefore we must judge of Things beyond us by
Rules of Proportion. We see the Chains fastened
to the Plough, and agree that it is drawn by the
Horse ; we see not the Ligatures betwixt the Load-
stone and Steel, and yet we say it is attracted. What
difference is there betwixt drawing and attracting ?
And what Notion can we have of either without
an Idea of Strings and Crooks ? How much does
our Credulity exceed our LTnderstandings in this
Word Attraction ? Yet so necessary is the Term,
that Sir Isaac Newton himself has no other way to
explain, no other Reason to give why a Stone thrown
up in the Air should ever return, or why Water
runs down the Hill. May not then a Horse be
attracted by the imperceptible Chains of a green
Pasture ; or a Bull by the Emanations of a wanton
Heifer ? The sensible Stimulations of a Dose of Phy-
sick will give a Man a Purge ; but when the sight
of a naked Sword or the squeaking of a Pig has the
same Effect, can v\^e deny the Cause to be equally
mechanical, tho' less visible ? An Hundred Philoso-
phers, or even common Jugglers, have past for Magi-
cians and Factors of the Devil, because their Machi-
nations have been invisible and unaccountable by
vulgar Beholders. But are we not such Spectators
and Arguers ourselves, when we rashly conclude an
intelligent Spirit necessary to Brutes, because we
are not able to account for every Action and Mo-
tion we see in them ? If we modestly considered
our own Deficiency, and the infinite Wisdom of
the supreme Artist, we should easily be convinced

that

.. [ 88 ]

that Machines of his making might probably exceed
all Penetration of ours, more than a repeating
Watch does the Contrivance of a common Black-
smith. The World is beholden to a very great
Philosopher, above mentioned, for his prodigious
Discoveries of the Motions of the Universe from the
Power of Attraction ; but how far this may extend,
nay, what is its very Nature, he pretends not to
define, but modestly refers to the hidden Impress
stamp'd upon Matter by the omnipotent Creator ;
it is he only that can perfectly understand his own
Works ; it is not for Mortals to affirm positively
the Extent of Things beyond our Sight ; but as oft
as we pretend to make Enquiries concerning his
Proceedings in the material World, we must use
such Measures as he has been pleased to give us,
and draw our Conclusions from such Principles as
are granted or laid down.

By these it is manifest, that Matter (as we under-
stand the Word) is not able to think. The want of
Thought is necessarily accompanied with want of
Sensation : We must therefore fairly give up the
Enquiry, and confess our Ignorance of the Actions
and Motions of material Animals ; unless we allow
them to proceed upon Mechanism, from Contact,
or Contrast, Impulse or Attraction.

The Admission of this Hypothesis, will answer
every Difficulty at once : Will shorten our Enqui-
ries into the different Natures, Properties, Faculties
and Perfections, that discover themselves in the
numberless Species ; and render it no more won-
derful, that some Animals are more strong, active,
and subtile than others ; than that the late Engine,
so curiously contriv'd for twisting of Silk, should
exceed the Spinster's Turn. Every distinct Species
is formed by the Creator, to display his infinite Wis-
dom and Power. Each is endued with such Springs,
Wheels and Hinges of Operation as are suitable

to

[ 89 ]

to the OflBces expected from it : Each severally
moved, impelled, attracted or stimulated by such
Particles as were fitted to it ; and framed with a
Design to enter its Organs, and to set it at Work.
Let me add also, that the same Hypothesis, well
considered, will teach us to set a just Value on our
particular Privilege of Sense and Reason ; and
inspire us with Gratitude to the bountiful Giver. It
will moreover justify us in our arbitrary Dealings
with these various Engines of Flesh and Blood,
entrusted to our Use ; excuse us from sacrificing
their Lives and Labours to our Food and Luxury,
our Ease and Diversion: And above all, it will
clear our Fraternity of Hunters from the Imputa-
tions of Barbarity and Ingratitude, for persecuting
an innocent Hare, and hanging up an old Hound.

There is an Objection yet behind ; which, because
it has a Moral and Religious Aspect, deserves I
should pay my Respects to it.

Obj. But is there any Thing in the Sacred Scrip-
tures, to confirm or countenance this Opinion ?
Nay, is not the contrary plainly implied, where
the Brute Creation is any where mentioned ? Was
not, particularly, Balaam's Ass supposed to feel the
Stripes he so reasonably complained of? And is it
not to be inferred from that Text, that declares a
good Man to be merciful to his Beast, ihoX Creatures
which are Objects of Mercy and Compassion, must
need be sensible of Good and Evil, Pain or Pleasure ?
In fine, will not this Notion tend to the Destruction
of God's Creatures ; by taking from the Breasts of
their Sovereign Man, all Fellow-feeling and Com-
miseration of their Wants and Distresses ?

To this I answer ; First, for the Objection from
God's Word, I desire the benefit of the same Dis-
tinction, that has never been denied to Astronomers
or Naturalists, on the like Occasions, that it is not
the Desis^n of those holy Writings, to teach Men

[ 90 3

Philosophy. Knowledge of this Nature, is left to the
Pursuit of the Studious and Inquisitive. Philoso-
phical Speculations are never mentioned in a Cate-
gorical determinate Sense, but only with the View
of advancing Morality, and the Glory of the Crea-
tor : And they are there spoken of, adcaptum Vulgiy
according to the Prejudices or Pre-apprehensions of
mortal Man. The well known Texts of the standing
still of the Sun ; the greater Light of the Moon, and
the /esser Light of the Stars, &c. are never interpreted
by learned Men, as Confutations of Copernicus, or
Sir Isaac Newton ; but as Records of a controuling
Power in the Lord of Nature : Nor are they ad-
mitted, or appealed to, as Decisions of Scholastick
Questions. The speaking of the Ass was the Work
of God, who, (as the Apostle observes) opened his
dumb Mouth to rebuke the Madness of the Prophet.
Nor does it imply the Sensation of that Animal,
any more than where a Voice is metaphorically
attributed to the Stone of the Wall, or the Beam of
the Timber,

Nor wou'd it be the least Disadvantage to the
dumb Creatures, was this Opinion of their Insensi-
bility never so well received : Self-Interest and Plea-
sure are the only Motives that excite their Masters
to breed and cherish them ; and whatever be their
Opinion of their Sensibility, Experience shews us,
they are less careful of them, than of Machines
of their ov/n making. Their Clocks and Cabinets
are as well secured and look'd after, as their Sheep
and Oxen : Nor are their Dwarfs, Espaliers, or Wa-
ter-works, with less Diligence or Attention dress'd
or cultivfvted than their Swine or Cart-Horses.

'Tis true, my System might taste of Heresy, if
likely to travel so far as Constantinople ; and might
possibly conduce, in an hard Winter, to the starv-
ing of Tom- Tits and Robin-red- Breasts. However,
if half of those charitable Provisions consumed and

exhausted

[ 91 ]

exhausted amongst the Disciples of Mahomet, to
the Relief of old cast Dogs, useless Birds, Fishes,
and Vermin, were converted to the Relief of starv-
ing Christians, in Consequence of my Doctrine,
it might hope to escape these Censures of Impiety
and Inhumanity.

But here in this Island, the Land of my Nativity
(to whose Service only I dedicate my Labours) I
cannot foresee any just Complaint, unless it be
from (the necessary Play-fellows of the Ladies)
Parrots and Squirrels, Monkeys and Lap-Dogs. For
as to Creatures of any Use or Service, if my Notion
deprives them of the Compassion of their Owners,
it will free them from their Passions and Resent-
ments also. The Supposition that they are thinking
Animals, and conscious of what they do, inclines us
to Anger and Rage against them; whereas, according
to my Hypothesis, it is equally ridiculous to suffer
our selves to be provoked with a Sheep, or a Bul-
lock, for breaking into a Meadow, as with a swoln
River, for overflowing its Banks.

I shall conclude this Argument with a short Story.

I was riding up a dirty Hill, and all of a sudden
heard before me a terrible Uproar of Menaces,
Oaths and Imprecations. I spurred on with no less
Apprehensions than of Robbery or Murder ; but
drawing near, could observe nothing but a Country
Farmer in hot Expostulation with his single Horse,
for being at a Stand with his empty Cart. The
Farmer (too deeply engaged to look behind him)
stood raving like a Mad- Man, with his Carter's
Whip in one Hand, and his naked Knife in the
other ; the first was at every Word laid over the
Back ; the last desperately pointed at the Sides
of the rawbon'd Ca-rrion ; who seemed so fearless
and insensible of his Danger, that he made no An-
swer ; but with a restive Winch, a Nod of his Head,

or

[ 92 ]

or a saucy Flirt of his Tail. At last the Driver made
a full Stop ; and after a brown Study, and mutter-
ing Soliloquy of one Moment, he hastily put his
Knife into his Pocket, leap'd up into the Cart,
and swore most horribly, (with the Whip in both
Hands) That if he would not draw the empty Cart,
he should draw him too. With this, such a Volley
of Slashes fell about poor Dobbin's Ears, that (his
Patience being also at an End) he turned short,
and Horse, Man, and Cart together, came over the
Causeway, into a deep Pool of Dirt and Water.
The Fire being thus on all Sides quenched, and the
Storm ceased, I thought it became me to help them
on their Legs, and do my best to compose the
Difference. The Farmer, by my Advice, very
calmly took out his Horse, and rode home to change
him for a better ; and I pursued my Journey with
this following Reflection : Had this honest Country-
man understood the Nature of his Beast, and looked
on him as no other than an insensible Machine., he
would have sav'd his Wrath, and escaped his Fall,
and been no more in a Fury with the Horse for not
drawing, than with the Cart for not following.

^jyrj'S.

Printed by W. Shackell,

Johnson's-court,
Fleet-street, London.

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