The gentlemen who are fond of a gingle at the close of every verse, and think no poem truly musical but what is in rhyme, will here find themselves disappointed. If they will be pleased to read over the short preface before the Paradise Lost, Mr. Smith's poem in memory of his friend Mr. John Philips, and the Archbishop of Cambray's letter to Monsieur Fontenelle, they may, probably, be of another opinion. For my own part, I shall not be ashamed to follow the example of Milton, Philips, Thomson, and all our best tragic writers.

Some few terms of art are dispersed here and there, but such only as are absolutely requisite to explain my subject. I hope in this the critics will excuse me; for I am humbly of opinion that the affectation, and not the necessary use, is the proper object of their

censure.

But I have done. I know the impatience of my brethren when a fine day and the concert of the kennel invite them abroad: I shall therefore leave my reader to such diversion as he may find in the poem itself.

En age, segnes,

Rumpe moras; vocat ingenti clamore Citharon,
Taygelique canes, domitrixque Epidaurus equorum;
Et vox assensu nemorum ingeminata remugit.

VIRG. GEORG. III.

Hark, away,

Cast far behind the ling'ring cares of life;
Citharon calls aloud, and in full cry

Thy hounds, Taygetus. Epidaurus trains
For us the gen'rous steed. The hunters' shouts
And cheering cries assenting woods return.

The subject proposed. Address to his Royal Highness the Prince. The crigin of hunting. The rude and unpolished manner of the first hunters. Beasts at first hunted for food and sacrifice. The grant made by God to man of the beasts, &c. The regular manner of hunting first brought into this island by the Normans. The best hounds and best horses bred here. The advantage of this exercise to us, as islanders. Address to gentlemen of estates. Situation of the kennel and its se

The diversion and employment of hounds in the kennel. The different sorts of hounds for each different Chase. Description of a perfect hound. Of sizing and sorting of hounds; the middle-sized hound recommended. Of the large deep-mouthed hound for hunting the stag and otter. Of the lime-hcund; their use on the borders f England and Scotland. A physical account of scents. Of good and bad scenting days. A short admonition to my brethren of the couples.

THE Chase I sing, Hounds and their various breed, And no less various use. O thou, great Prince!

C

Whom Cambria's tow'ring hills proclaim their lord,
Deign thou to hear my bold instructive song.
While grateful citizens, with pompous show,
Rear the triumphal arch, rich with th' exploits
Of thy illustrious house; while virgins pave
Thy way with flow'rs, and as the Royal Youth
Passing they view, admire, and sigh in vain;
While crowded theatres, too fondly proud
Of their exotic minstrels and shrill pipes,
The price of manhood, hail thee with a song,
And airs soft-warbling; my hoarse-sounding horn
Invites thee to the Chase, the sport of kings;
Image of war without its guilt. The Muse
Aloft on wing shall soar, conduct with care
Thy foaming courser o'er the steepy rock,
Or on the river bank receive thee safe,
Light-bounding o'er the wave from shore to shore.
Be thou our great protector, gracious Youth!
And if, in future times, some envious prince,
Careless of right, and guileful, should invade
Thy Britain's commerce, or should strive, in vain,
To wrest the balance from thy equal hand,
Thy hunter-train, in cheerful green array'd,
(A band undaunted, and inur'd to toils)
Shall.compass thee around, die at thy feet,
Or hew thy passage thro' th' embattled foe,
And clear thy way to fame: inspir'd by thee,
The nobler Chase of glory shall pursue

10

20

30

Thro' fire, and smoke, and blood, and fields of death.
Nature, in her productions slow, aspires
By just degrees to reach perfection's height:
So mimic Art works leisurely, till Time
Improve the piece, or wise Experience give
The proper finishing. When Nimrod bold,
That mighty hunter! first made war on beasts,
And stain'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 stones, rude implements of war!
He arm'd his savage bands, a multitude

Untrain'd; of twining osiers form'd, they pitch
Their artless toils, then range the desert hills,
And scour the plains below: the trembling herd
Start at th' unusual sound, and clam'rous shout
Unheard before; surpris'd, alas! to find

Man now their foe, whom erst they deem'd their lord,

But mild and gentle, and by whom as yet

Secure they graz'd. Death stretches o'er the

150

Wide wasting, and grim Slaughter, 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 shoulders broad the bleeding prey.
Part on their altars smokes, a sacrifice

To that all-gracious Pow'r whose bounteous hand
Supports his wide creation; what remains