SPORT AND SLAUGHTER 259 



But these are exceptional cases ; the other is the 

 universal rule. There is no more merciful way of 

 killing any animal than by shooting, and it is also 

 the quickest. Besides, there is no suffering caused 

 by the pursuit of birds, or in throwing the artificial 

 fly for fish till they are caught, and even then the 

 mouth is a sort of bone, which can have no feeling." 



After dealing with several of the commonly re- 

 ceived arguments in favour of fox-hunting, the 

 parson replied thus to one of the party who argued 

 that at all events hunting was a source of pleasure 

 to those who engaged in it : "That is the turning- 

 point of the whole thing ; the very main objection 

 to it is, that pleasure is derived from the pain of the 

 hunted animal. It therefore is, and must be, intrin- 

 sically wrong, and no argument can make it right." 

 Much more might be quoted from this lively pam- 

 phlet, as well as from various letters which he wrote 

 subsequently, on the subject of hunting. I will, 

 however, only add what he once said when writing 

 to a small country newspaper in 1879, for his re- 

 marks are characteristic, and well express what he 

 thought : 



" Some three thousand a year is well known to be 

 the ordinary amount that is considered necessary to 

 keep up a pack of fox-hounds in what is considered 

 a proper style ; and as there are some one hundred 

 and seventy packs in the kingdom, besides harriers, 

 stag-hounds, otter-hounds, &c., any one can soon 

 tell what the total loss of money in one way or 

 another comes to, even in one year. Could not the 



