852 NATURAL 
in point of moral turpitude, to.a breach 
of one of the ten commandments, to shoot 
a hare. Itis introduced, like the preced- 
ing parts, by a view of the general cha- 
racter and habits which distinguish the 
order of birds. The author then parti- 
cularizes the bustard, the pheasant, the 
common and red-legged partridge, the 
cock of the wood, the black cock, the 
moor cock, or, as it is more commonly 
called in the north of England, moor 
ame; giving descriptions of each from 
Petinaie ‘and others, and adding liberally 
from the stores of his own personal know- 
ledge. 
The history of these birds, and of those 
which are not protected by the game 
laws, and which are known to sportsmen 
by the general name of wild fowl, would 
afford matter for copious extracts, equal- 
ly eurious and pleasing; but we are 
persuaded that we have already given 
enough to excite a desire of possessing 
the whole ; and we heartily recommend 
the volumes of Rural Sports to a place 
in the great hall or dining-room of every 
country squire in the knmgdom. They 
will operate as medicines to the mind, 
when the badness of the weather forbids 
those masculine pursuits which prevent 
the want of physic for the body: they 
will save a long frost from many a bitter 
curse ; and will lighten the service of the 
whole household, from the butler to the 
scullion, from the huntsman to the stable- 
boy, by keeping their master in good 
humour. 
Under every division of the work, that 
nothing may be wanting for the direction 
of the sportsman, the various laws which 
have been made from time to time for 
the preservation of game, are dis- 
tinctly and chronologically specified, 
with the addition of a few adjudged 
cases. ‘Uheaccount of the old forest law 
is particularly full. 
‘We had almost forgotten to notice, 
what we ought by no means to omit, the 
admirable engravings by which the de- 
scriptions of the quadiupeds; fishes, and 
birds mentioned in thework, are illustrat- 
ed. .As natural history figures, many of 
them have uncommon merit. The fishes, 
in particular, we are obliged, though re- 
luctantly, to prefer to those of Mr. Heath 
in the fourth volume of GeneralZoology. 
There is also in many cases an expression 
of character and spirit which shews the 
band of a master. In, this last respect, 
the terrier and fox, the snared hare, the 
> 
~ 
HISTORY. 
wounded pheasant, the covey of pate 
tridges, the brood of partridges, the set- 
ter and black grouse, the old English 
setter, and Pluto and Juno, are eminently 
excellent. The figure of the tench caught 
at Thornville royal is valuable on ac- 
count of its singularity. 
Notwithstanding we have already 
transgressed so much, we cannot deny 
ourselves the satisfaction, nor Mr. Daniel 
the justice, of letting him make his own 
bow to the readers of our Review, as well 
as to the rest of the British public. 
«The compiler here closes his labours. On 
the various topics which he has undertaken ~ 
to treat, he has endeavoured to direct the at- 
tention to whatever he thought of sufficient 
importance to repay, or of tendency to amuse 
it. In selecting this information, he found 
his work grow upon him, and it has, in con- 
sequence, considerably exceeded its intended 
bulk. Some particulars, which he did not 
originally design to touch upon, he afterwards 
found to be so intimately blended with the 
main purport of the book, that the total omis- 
sion of them would have left it defective. 
‘© In the most common pursuits, as well 
as in the most complicate science, there is a 
certain previous knowledge requisite, to en- 
able us to prosecute them with facility and 
success. Without some such knowledge, 
even the pastimes of the fieid will rarely com- 
pensate the time and trouble ¢xpended upon 
them. ‘This knowledge it has been the com- 
aah aim to impart. His instructions have 
een drawn from writers of the greatest merit. 
Whenever he has ventured to differ or to 
doubt, he has done so from the teachings of 
actual experiment ; opportunities of inter- 
course he has enjoyed with the best judges ; 
his own means of intelligence have been con- 
siderable y and the implements he has himself 
recommended have undergone repeated and 
successful trials. 
«¢ Of the subject itself, which has engaged 
his researches, he has only thus much to re- 
mark. The diversions of the field-have been 
not seldom regarded as the resources of vigo- 
rgus idleness and intellectual vacaney ; they 
have been condemned, as unconnected with 
that dignified activity of mind which explores 
the tracks of science, and extends the empire — 
of reason. But must every amusement be re-- 
- nounced which does not contribute to expand 
our understanding? It is a cynical and sickly 
philosophy, which would decry any recrea- 
tion, which neither pollutes the manners nor 
hurts the mind. ‘The pursuits of the sports- 
man Jureus from the smoke of cities to the 
healthfal breezes of the forest, and the anis 
mating enjoyments of the field; neither is it 
true that they are so closely allied to stupe- 
faction, as some censors would persuade us, 
The man of moral feeling and lively fancy 
may, in the midst of such pursuits, indulge * 
