AND ROBERT MARSHAM. 295 



I had occasion to write to the Duke of Portland * ; and i 

 ventured to recommend the Nat. Hisst. of Selborne to his 

 Grace. 



I think there is no doubt, but the R. S. will print your ac- 

 count of the Fern-Owl. If they do not, i (for one) shall be 

 ashamed of F. R. S. to my name. It has been matter of 

 wonder to me, that (since my Indications of Spring were 

 printed) many people have asked me, what is the Fern-Owl ? 

 'Tis a strong proof of the shameful ignorance of a set of people 

 that live a great part of the year in the Country ! As you 

 have left off sporting I hope you will not think me too cynical, 

 if i wonder that a rational creature can make the chief plea- 

 sure of his life to consist in causing, and seeing harmless 

 creatures in the agonies of death. The poulterer's killing- 

 boy & the Lamb-butcher, follow their trade, & perhaps with 

 pity; the Nobleman's and gentleman's, is clear pleasure: from 

 causing pain & death. I am sorry to find by the Meeting 

 advertised that you have scoundrels & rascals in Hampshire, 

 as we have in Norfolk. Besides the real danger of these vil- 

 lains they confirm the bad opinion i am forced to have of 

 human nature. I may say every man in the village is obliged 

 to me ; yet 13 of them are of these Clubs. But they do me 

 one service, viz. they mortify my vanity, as i thought i could 

 have led them all. One man in particular, to whom & his 

 family i had been very kind, i believe to hundreds of pounds ; 

 & saved his father from hanging : & this is the grateful re- 

 turn ! 



But no more 011 this vile subject. I have just begun a new 

 Wood of some acres, now i am near 85 years old ; which i 

 attend twice a day ; & i feel great pleasure in the work. You 

 remember Evelyn's f story of the Emperor Maximilian II. 

 asking an old man, why he planted Dates, which would re- 

 quire an hundred years to make them produce fruit? He 

 answered i have children, and i hope they will have children. 

 But having children or none, the work to me is pleasing. 



* [William Henry Cavendish Bentinck, Duke of Portland, born 1738, 

 and twice First Lord of the Treasury, died 1809. A. N.J 

 t [Vol. ii. p. 200. Hunter's edition (ut supra). A. N.j 



