Thickens amain, and loud triumphant shouts,
And horns fhrill-warbling in each glade, prelude
To his approaching fate. And now in view
With hobbling gait, and high, exerts amaz'd
What ftrength is left: to the last dregs of life
Reduc'd, his spirits fail, on every fide
Hemm'd in, besieg'd; not the least opening left
To gleaming hope, th' unhappy's last reserve.
Where fhall he turn? or whither fly? Despair
Gives courage to the weak. Refolv'd to die,
He fears no more, but rushes on his foes,
And deals his deaths around; beneath his feet
These groveling lie, thofe by his antlers gor'd
Defile th' enfanguin'd plaín. Ah! see distress'd
He ftands at bay against yon knotty trunk,
That covers well his rear, his front prefents
An host of foes. O! fhun, ye noble train,
The rude encounter, and believe your lives
Your country's due alone. As now aloof
They wing around, he finds his foul uprais'd,
To dare fome great exploit ; he charges home
Upon the broken pack, that on each fide
Fly diverse, then as o'er the turf he ftrains,
He vents the cooling stream, and up the breeze
Urges his course with eager violence :
Then takes the foil, and plunges in the flood
Precipitant; down the mid-stream he wafts
Along, till (like a ship diftrefs'd, that runs
Into fome winding creek) close to the verge
Of a small island, for his weary feet
F
Sure anchorage he finds, there kulks immers'd.
His nofe alone above the wave draws in
The vital air; all elfe beneath the flood
Conceal'd, and loft, deceives each prying eye
Of man or brute. In vain the crowding pack
Draw on the margin of the stream, or cut
The liquid wave with oary feet, that move
In equal time. The gliding waters leave
No trace behind, and his contracted pores
But fparingly perspire: the huntsman strains
His labouring lungs, and puffs his cheeks in vain :
At length a blood-hound bold, ftudious to kill,
And exquifite of fenfe, winds him from far;
Headlong he leaps into the flood, his mouth
Loud opening fpends amain, and his wide throat
Swells every note with joy; then fearless dives
Beneath the wave, hangs on his haunch, and wounds
Th' unhappy brute, that flounders in the ftream,
Sorely diftrefs'd, and struggling strives to mount
The steepy fhore. Haply once more escap'd,
Again he ftands at bay, amid the groves
Of willows, bending low their downy heads.
Outrageous transport fires the greedy pack;
These swim the deep, and those crawl up with pain
The flippery bank, while others on firm land
Engage; the stag repels each bold affault,
Maintains his poft, and wounds for wounds returns.
As when some wily corfair boards a ship
Full-freighted, or from Afric's golden coafts,
Or India's wealthy strand, his bloody crew
Upon her deck he flings; these in the deep
Drop short, and fwim to reach her steepy fides,
And clinging climb aloft; while those on board
Urge-on the work of fate; the master bold,
Prefs'd to his last retreat, bravely refolves
To fink his wealth beneath the whelming wave,
His wealth, his foes, nor unreveng'd to die.
So fares it with the stag: fo he refolves
To plunge at once into the flood below,
Himfelf, his foes, in one deep gulph immers'd.
Ere yet he executes this dire intent,
In wild diforder once more views the light;
Beneath a weight of woe he groans diftrefs'd,
The tears run trickling down his hairy cheeks;
He weeps, nor weeps in vain. The king beholds 595
His wretched plight, and tenderness innate
Moves his great foul. Soon at his high command
Rebuk'd, the disappointed, hungry pack,
Retire fubmifs, and grumbling quit their prey.
Great Prince! from thee, what may thy fubjects hope; So kind, and fo beneficent to brutes?
O mercy, heavenly born! fweet attribute!
Thou great, thou best prerogative of power!
Juftice may guard the throne, but, join'd with thee,
On rocks of adamant it stands fecure,
And braves the storm beneath; foon as thy fmiles
Gild the rough deep, the foaming waves fubfide,
And all the noify tumult finks in peace.
Of the neceffity of deftroying fome beafts, and preferving
Of breeding of hounds;
The choice of the dog,
others for the use of man. the feafon for this bufinefs. of great moment. Of the litter of whelps. Of the number to be reared. Of setting them out to their feveral walks. Care to be taken to prevent their hunting too foon. Of entering the whelps. Of breaking them from running at sheep. Of the difcafes of hounds. Of their age. Of madness; two forts of it defcribed, the dumb and outrageous madnefs its dreadful effects. Burning of the wound recommended as preventing all ill confequences. The infectious hounds to be separated, and fed apart. The vanity of trufting to the many infallible cures for this malady. The dismal effects of the biting of a mad dog, upon man, defcribed. Defcription of the otter hunting. The conclufion.
HATE'ER of earth is form'd, to earth returns
Diffolv'd: the various objects we behold,
Plants, animals, this whole material mafs,
Are ever changing, ever new. The foul
Of man alone, that particle divine,
Escapes the wreck of worlds, when all things fail.
Hence great the distance 'twixt the beasts that perish,
And God's bright image, man's immortal race.
The brute creation are his property,
Subfervient to his will, and for him made.
As hurtful thefe he kills, as useful those
Preferves; their fole and arbitrary king.
Should he not kill, as erft the Samian fage
Taught unadvis'd, and Indian brachmans now
As vainly preach; the teeming ravenous brutes
Might fill the scanty space of this terrene,
Incumbering all the globe: should not his care
Improve his growing stock, their kinds might fail,
Man might once more on roots and acorns feed,
And through the deferts range, fhivering, forlorn, 20
Quite deftitute of every folace dear,
And every fmiling gaiety of life.
The prudent huntsman therefore will supply With annual large recruits, his broken pack,
And propagate their kind. As from the root
Fresh scions still spring forth and daily yield
New blooming honours to the parent-tree.
Far fhall his pack be fam'd, far-fought his breed,
And princes at their tables feast those hounds
His hand prefents, an acceptable boon.
Ere yet the Sun through the bright Ram has urg'd
His steepy course, or mother Earth unbound
Her frozen bofom to the Western gale;
When feather'd troops, their focial leagues diffolv'd, Select their mates, and on the leaflefs elm
The noify rook builds high her wicker nest,
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