Besmear'd, they wound, they tear, till on the ground,⚫
Panting, half-dead the conquer'd champion lies:
Then sudden all the base ignoble crowd,
Loud-clam'ring, seize the helpless, worried wretch
And, thirsting for his blood, drag diff'rent ways
His mangled carcase on th' ensanguin'd plain.
O breasts of pity void! t'oppress the weak,
To point your vengeance at the friendless head,
And with one mutual cry insult the fall'n!
Emblem too just of man's degen'rate race.
Others apart, by native instinct led,
Knowing instructer! 'mong the ranker grass
Cull each salubrious plant, with bitter juice
Concoctive stor'd, and potent to allay
Each vicious ferment. Thus the hand divine
Of Providence, beneficent and kind
To all his creatures, for the brutes prescribes
A ready remedy, and is himself
Their great physician. Now grown stiff with age,
And many a painful Chase, the wise old hound,
Regardless of the frolic pack, attends
His master's side, or slumbers at his ease
Beneath the bending shade; there many a ring
Runs o'er in dreams; now on the doubtful soil
Puzzles perplex'd, or doubles intricate,
Cautious unfolds, then wing'd with all his speed
Bounds o'er the lawn to seize his panting prey,
And in imperfect whimp'rings speaks his joy.
A diff'rent hound for ev'ry diff'rent Chase
Select with judgment; nor the tim❜rous hare
O'ermatch'd destroy, but leave that vile offence
To the mean, murd'rous, coursing crew, intent
On blood and spoil. O blast their hopes, just Heav'n!
And all their painful drudgeries repay
With disappointment and severe remorse.
But husband thou thy pleasures, and give scope
To all her subtle play. By Nature led,
A thousand shifts she tries: t' unravel these
Th' industricus beagle twists his waving tail,
Thro' all her labyrinths pursues, and rings
Her doleful knell. See there, with count'nance blithe,
And with a courtly grin, the fawning hound
Salutes thee cow'ring; his wide-op'ning nose
Upward he curls, and his large slow-black eyes
Melt in soft blandishments and humble joy:
His glossy skin, or yellow pied, or blue,
In lights or shades by Nature's pencil drawn,
Reflects the various tints; his ears and legs,
Fleck'd here and there, in gay enamell'd pride
Rival the speckled pard; his rush-grown tail
O'er his broad back bends in an ample arch:
On shoulders clean, upright, and firm he stands: 249
His round cat-foot, straight hams, and wide-spread
And his low-dropping chest, confess his speed, [thighs,
His strength, his wind, or on the steepy hill'
Or far-extended plain: in ev'ry part
So well proportion'd, that the nicer skill
Of Phidias himself can't blame thy choice;
Of such compose thy pack. But here a mean
Observe, nor the large hound prefer, of size
Gigantic; he in the thick woven covert
Painfully tugs, or in the thorny brake
Torn and embarrass'd bleeds: but if too small,
The pigmy brood in ev'ry furrow swims;
Moil'd in the clogging clay, panting they lag
Behind inglorious; or else shiv'ring creep,
Benumb'd and faint, beneath the shelt'ring thorn:
For hounds of middle size, active and strong,
Will better answer all thy various ends,
And crown thy pleasing labours with success.
As some brave captain, curious and exact,
By his fix'd standard forms in equal ranks
His gay battalion, as one man they move
Step after step, their size the same, their arms
Far-gleaming dart the same united blaze;
Reviewing generals his inerit own;
How regular! how just! and all his cares
Are well repaid if mighty George-approve,
So model thou thy pack, if honour touch
Thy gen'rous soul, and the world's just applause,
But above all take heed, nor mix thy hounds
Of diff'rent kinds; discordant sounds shall grate
Thy ears offended, and a lagging line
Of babbling curs disgrace thy broken pack.
But if th' amphibious otter be thy Chase,
Or stately stag, that o'er the woodland reigns;
Or if th' harmonious thunder of the field
Delight thy ravish'd ears; the deep-flew'd hound
Breed up with care, strong, heavy, slow, but sure;
Whose ears, down-hanging from his thick round head,
Shall sweep the morning dew, whose clanging voice
Awake the mountain Echo in her cell,
And shake the forests: the bold Talbot kind
Of these the prime, as white as Alpine snows,
And great their use of old. Upon the banks
Of Tweed, slow winding thro' the vale, the seat
Of war and rapine once, ere Britons knew
The sweets of peace, or Anna's dread commands
To lasting leagues the haughty rivals aw'd,
There dwelt a pilf 'ring race, well train'd and skill'ď
In all the mysteries of theft, the spoil
Their only substance, feuds and war their sport;
Not more expert in ev'ry fraudful art
Th' arch felon was of old, who, by the tail,
Drew back his lowing prize: in vain his wiles,
In vain the shelter of the cov'ring rock,
In vain the sooty cloud and ruddy flames
That issued from his mouth; for soon he paid
His forfeit life; a debt how justly due
*Cacus, Virg. Æn. lib. viii.
To wrong'd Alcides and avenging Heaven!
Veil'd in the shades of night they ford the stream,
Then prowling far and near, whate'er they seize
Becomes their prey; nor flocks nor herds are safe, 310
Nor stalls protect the steer, nor strong-barr'd doors
Secure the fav'rite horse. Soon as the morn
Reveals his wrongs, with ghastly visage wan
The plunder'd owner stands, and from his lips
A thousand thronging curses burst their way:
He calls his stout allies, and in a line
His faithful hound he leads, then with a voice
That utters loud his rage, attentive cheers:
Soon the sagacious brute, his curling tail
Flourish'd in air, low bending plies around
His busy nose, the steaming vapour snuffs
Inquisitive, nor leaves one turf untry'd,
Till, conscious of the recent stains, his heart
Beats quick; his snuffling nose, his active tail,
Attest his joy; then with deep-op'ning mouth,
That makes the welkin tremble, he proclaims
Th' audacious felon : foot by foot he marks
His winding way, while all the list'ning crowd
Applaud his reas'nings. O'er the wat'ry ford,
Dry sandy heaths, and stony barren hills,
O'er beaten paths with men and beasts distain'd,
Unnerring he pursues, till at the cot
Arriv'd, and seizing by his guilty throat
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