They but a momentary joy impart,
'Tis you, who touch the foul, and warm the heart.
How tempting do thy fylvan fports appear!
Ev'n wild Ambition might vouchfafe an ear,
Might her fond luft of power a while compofe,
And gladly change it for thy fweet repose.
No fierce, unruly fenates, threaten here,
No axe, no fcaffold, to the view appear,
No envy, disappointment, and despair.
Here, bleft viciffitude, whene'er you please,
You ftep from exercise to learned ease:
Turn o'er each claffic page, each beauty trace,
The mind unwearied in the pleafing chace.
Oh! would kind Heaven fuch happiness bestow,
Let fools, let knaves, be masters here below.
Grandeur and place, thofe baits to catch the wife,
And all their pageant train, I pity and defpife.
The subject proposed. Address to his Royal Highness the Prince. The origin of hunting. The rude and unpolished manner of the first hunters. Beafts at first hunted for food and facrifice. The grant made by God to man of the beasts, &c. The regular manner of hunting firft brought into this ifland by the Normans. The best hounds and best horfes bred here. The advantage of this exercise to us, as iflanders. Addrefs to gentlemen of eftates. Situation of the kennel and its feveral courts. The diverfion and employment of hounds in the kennel. The different forts of hounds for each different chace. Defcription of a perfect hound. Of fizing and forting of hounds, the middlefized hound recommended. Of the large deepmouthed hound for hunting the ftag and otter. Of the lime-hound; their use on the borders of England and Scotland. A phyfical account of scents. Of good and bad fcenting days. A fhort admonition to my brethren of the couples.
THE Chace I their
HE Chace I fing, Hounds, and their various breed,
Whom Cambria's towering hills proclaim their lord,
Deign thou to hear my bold, instructive song.
While grateful citizens with pompous shew,
Rear the triumphal arch, rich with th' exploits
Of thy illuftrious houfe; while virgins pave
Thy way with flowers, and, as the Royal Youth
Paffing they view, admire and figh in vain;
While crowded theatres, too fondly proud
Of their exotic minstrels, and fhrill pipes,
The price of manhood, hail thee with a fong,
And airs foft-warbling; my hoarfe- founding horn
Invites thee to the Chace, the fport of kings;
Image of war, without its guilt..
Aloft on wing fhall foar, conduct with care
Thy foaming courfer o'er the fteepy rock,
Or on the river bank receive thee safe,
Light-bounding o'er the wave, from thore to fhore.
Be thou our great protector, gracious Youth!
And if, in future times, fome envious prince,
Careless of right and guileful, should invade
Thy Britain's commerce, or fhould strive in vain
To wreft the balance from thy equal hand;
Thy hunter-train, in chearful green array'd,
(A band undaunted, and inur'd to toils)
Shall compafs thee around, die at thy feet,
Or hew thy paffage through th' embattled foe,
And clear thy way to fame: infpir'd by thee
The nobler chace of glory fhall purfue
Through fire, and smoke, and blood, and fields of death. Nature, in her productions flow, afpires
By juft degrees to reach Perfection's height:
So mimic Art works leifurely, till Time
Improve the piece, or wife Experience give
The proper finishing. When Nimrod bold,
That mighty hunter, first made war on beasts,
And ftain'd the woodland-green with purple dye,
New, and unpolish'd was the huntsman's art;
No stated rule, his wanton will his guide.
With clubs and ftones, rude implements of war,
He arm'd his favage bands, a multitude
Untrain'd of twining ofiers form'd, they pitch
Their artless toils, then range the defert hills,
And fcower the plains below; the trembling herd
Start at th' unusual found, and clamorous fhout
Unheard before; surpriz'd alas! to find
Man now their foe, whom erft they deem'd their lord,
But mild and gentle, and by whom as yet
Secure they graz'd. Death ftretches o'er the plain
Wide-wafting, and grim flaughter red with blood:
Urg'd on by hunger keen, they wound, they kill,
Their rage licentious knows no bound; at last,
Incumber'd with their spoils, joyful they bear
Upon their fhoulders broad the bleeding prey.
Part on their altars fmoke a facrifice
To that all-gracious power, whose bounteous hand
Supports his wide creation; what remains
On living coals they broil, inelegant
Of tafte, nor skill'd as yet in nicer arts
Of pamper'd luxury. Devotion pure,
And strong neceffity, thus firft began
The chace of heafts: though bloody was the deed,
Yet without guilt. For the green herb alone
Unequal to fuftain man's labouring race,
Now every moving thing that liv'd on earth
Was granted him for food*. So just is Heaven,
To give us in proportion to our wants.
Or chance or industry in after-times
Some few improvements made, but short as yet
Of due perfection. In this ifle remote
Our painted ancestors were flow to learn,
To arms devote, of the politer arts
Nor fkill'd nor ftudious; till from Neuftria's coafts
Victorious William, to more decent rules
Subdued our Saxon fathers, taught to speak
The proper dialect, with horn and voice
To cheer the bufy hound, whofe well-known cry
His listening peers approve with joint acclaim.
From him fucceffive huntfmen learn'd to join
In bloody focial leagues, the multitude
Difpers'd, to fize, to fort their various tribes,
To rear, feed, hunt, and difcipline the pack.
Hail, happy Britain! highly favour'd ifle,
And Heav'n's peculiar care! To thee 'tis given
To train the sprightly fteed, more fleet than those
Begot by winds, or the celeftial breed
That bore the great Pelides through the prefs
Of heroes arm'd, and broke their crowded ranks ;
Which proudly neighing, with the fun begins
Chearful his courfe? and ere his beams decline,
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