THE REV. JOHN RUSSELL. 69 



The truth is, the spirit of the Pharisee is 

 too apt to warp not only our judgment but our 

 charity ; that of the writer, it may be, on the 

 subject of enforced confession, and certainly 

 that of the public on the hunting parson. It is 

 a common fault with men, as Butler quaintly 

 says, to 



" Compound for sins they are inclined to 

 By damning- those they have no mind to." 



If hunting in itself be no sin, then it is an 

 innocent pastime ; and if so, why, if their sacred 

 duties be duly fulfilled, should clergymen be 

 denied its enjoyment? Is it not an act of 

 tyranny and asceticism to say to them, ''You 

 are free to boat, shoot, fish, plav cricket or 

 lawn-tennis, and ride — but not with hounds ; 

 no, that is a recreation you shall not share with 

 your fellow men?" 



But the French proverb which says, ''Qui 

 s'exatse s'acciise," must not be forgotten; and 

 Russell himself would have been the last to 

 admit the need of apology on such a point. 

 He would have said what an old country 

 clergyman, who had been scurrilously attacked 

 for his love of the chase, said before him : 

 " I only wish my hours of recreation had all 

 been spent as happily and as innocently as in 

 the hunting field ; but point out to me the 

 moral turpitude of hunting, and I'll never 

 follow a hound again." 



