The New York herald., 1875-11-28
"Ne sutor ultra Crepidam."

'sNe Sutor Ultra Crepidam."
When the gentle Henry Bergh, leaving
for moment his unrelenting pursuit Of the
shooters of pigeons or relaxing his efforts to
persuade cruel cab drivers and ruthless rat
baiters to
Avoid the guilt of giving pain,
/ seeks new sphere for the exercise of his
philanthropic principles. his zeal is not
only apt to convert his principles
TO prosecutions, but to lead him into
the most ludicrous mistakes The efforts
made by few gentlemen at Hackensack to
establish the grand British sport Of fox hunt
ing appear to have completely driven the
venerable philanthropist from his equanimity
and tipped his pen with venom. From
letter to his confrere, Mr. Kinney, President
of the New Jersey Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals, we quote the follow
ing surprising passages:-
This impudent and aggressive relief to Incidence is
OF aristogratc lineage and TO the feeble mind Of the
average London club man in particular presents great
aractionsi first because it is Of very high 'ton, and
second, that II exposes his perfumed body year
to the semblanee of physical exposure
On given day a number OF habituaI idlers
issue from their do nothing abodes and meet
al q stated locality in close proximity 10
what Is termed "tap," or, In American
phraseoogy, sample roomn The convention all
mounted horses, and, having mbibed sufficient air
and liquid starts for an open field, followed by nu-
merous pack of hounds which locality, on being
reached terrified fox Is liberated from box and the
dogs, horses and men scamper pell NEIL after the
miserable animal Now the fox exercising that
ally takes that route where his pursuers can do
the most damage to hedges gardens and crops,
the consequence being that those noble 'sportsmen"
usually leave behind them irregular track charac-
terized by its widespread devastation. Sufficient in
jury having been done to the farmer and the landlord,
tho precious pack Of men and hounds return to their
usual covers dragging along wretched fox as
paint the "daring and exhilarang scone" in glowing
| colors, just as the ''Hackensack hunt was done
If Mr. Bergh has ever visited the scenes he
describes he must have associated with some
very queer specimens of the London club
men" or the "habitual idler" aFeeble
mind" and "perfumed body" are not pretty
| epithets to apply to the Dukes of Beaufort or
of Grafton, to the members of the Pytchley
or the Quorn, or the long list of gentlemen
whose names. although they may ap-
pear in parliamentary annals or on the
lists of noble charities, are forever damned
in Mr.. Bergh's eyes and subjected to his
| scornful vituperation because they are to be
| seen weekly during the hunting season in
| goddess sheet known to the unregenerate as
Bells Life in London, which advertises, under
date of November 13, the following meets"
in the United Kingdom, viz. Five stag
hounds, one hundred and thirty-five
fox hounds, eighteen barriers, all, &c
cording to our letter writer, largely attended
by 'feeble minds" and ''perfumed bodies.
1t would be impossible in the limited space
Of this article to correct all the mistakes or
misstatements in the little extract we have
given of Mr.. Berghs notion Of a fox hunt;
but one can imagine, for instance, Mr. Tai
by's expressions both of face and feel
| ings, If, after q ringing "view halloo,
| ''dogs, horses and men scamper pellmell
after the miserable animal" Dear Mr.. Bergh
| if you had ever chanced to have had the luck
| once in your life to find yourself well
mounted, in an easy country, with negotiable
fences. sailing along over grass land in the
first fight" you would have been spared
an awful exhibition Of yourself in the way of
writing about what you do not understand.
Who a good steed they know how to bestride,
Tho blind be the fences and brook deep and wide
With that meier faiter, whatever the pace,
Let what may delight others, their JOY Is the chase
Our letter writer, in his lycanthropic zeal,
may, perhaps, forget that the fox is the most
destructive of vermin /; the farmers, there
fore, who join in the hunts he denounces
have q reason for JOY beyond the pleasure
of the chase in their protected poultry
yards; and, really, in considering the alb
stract cruelty Of foxhunting, it does not seem
Of great moment whether the vermin is
hunted and destroyed by dogs, or whether,
caught by the leg in an iron-toothed trap
during the night, he should linger in torture
until he is dubbed to death by a farm ser
want in the morning.
1t seems almost needless to defend o noble
sport which has done 50 much to improve the
breed of horses and to strengthen the nerve
and give vigor to the frame of men in England !;
but it is well to remember that the grand
old Duke of Wellington was o celebrated fox
hunter that the gallant cavalry whose resist
less charge at Waterloo, whose brilliant riding
at Balaklava are things Of history, were led
and offcered by men who had learned
their riding, their coolness and their
pluck in many hard run with
the Pytchley, the Quorn or some
of the hunting meets which take place four
times week during the season all over the
United Kingdom but then Mr.. Bergh says
they are-but no let US not quote any more
from that silly letter-we will drop the sub
| ject with Talleyrsnds suggestion
Surtout point dc zelc-
'sWe see what it leads to"
ANOTHER SAVINGS BANK has succumbed
| the institution known as the Mutual Benefit