the hounds are never known to run from _chase_ to _view_, but every individual is feelingly alive to the _danger_ of the DEER, who have so largely and laboriously contributed to the completion of his own most ardent happiness: a secret inspiration operates upon every latent spring of human sensibility; and no difficulty at the moment seems too great to surmount, for the preservation of a life in which every spectator feels himself most impressively concerned. This final burst of a chase is most dreadfully severe, particularly if the last mile or two is _run in view_; when which is the case, the deer exerts all his utmost and remaining power to take the _soil_, if water is within his reach: this he sometimes does with the hounds so close to his haunches, that it is impossible to prevent their plunging with him into the stream. In such predicament, if it is found impracticable to draw off the body of the hounds, to insure his safety, the YEOMAN PRICKERS, and _others_, are frequently seen above their middles in water, (uncertain of its depth,) to preserve the life of the DEER, at the hazard of their own. This may be considered, by the recluse and callous Cynic, a degree of valour beyond discretion; but the debt of humanity, like the Hibernian Major's _word_ in the Comedy, is "a DEBT of HONOUR, and must be _paid_." The most moderate chases with the stag extend from an hour and a half to two hours; though from three to four hours is by no means uncommon in the course of the season. Horses too deficient in speed, too heavy in formation, too full in flesh, or foul in condition, frequently fall martyrs to a want of judgment or prudence in their RIDERS during the _chase_: every man ought to know when his horse is dangerously distressed, and of course should bow implicit obedience to the occasion: there are times when _self-denial_ would add lustre to the brow of a MONARCH; and it never can be displayed with a more humane effect, than when in the defence and preservation of so useful an animal; who, being deprived the privilege of free agency, is not possessed of the power to protect himself: under the influence of which consideration, there is not a SPORTSMAN of EXPERIENCE or HUMANITY existing, who would not philosophically retire with patience from the field, to save the life of a faithful persevering companion, than to see him _sink_ (never more to rise) a victim to inadvertency, folly, or indiscretion. In a severe chase of more than _four hours_, recited in the former part of the Work, (where the stag was taken at Tilehurst, near Reading, in Berkshire,) one horse dropped dead in the field, another died before he could reach a stable, and seven more in the course of a week. The concluding ceremony of the chase is the preservation of the deer, the baying of the hounds, and the melodious concert of the horns; after which the former are drawn off, and the stag, hind, or heavier, is deposited in a place of safety,