236 CENTURY OF ENGLISH FOX-HUNTING 



the general reading public within the last few years. 

 I have heard it gravely stated that hunting books 

 lack refinement. This accusation I wish to repudiate 

 in the strongest terms, for it is a gross libel on the 

 authors. One might just as well say that the Pick- 

 wick Papers lack refinement, because Mr. Pickwick 

 occasionally got drunk, or that Shakespeare's plays 

 lack refinement. Yet the people who complain of 

 the vulgarity of Mr. Jorrocks will devour the sexual 

 novels of the modern female novelists. In con- 

 clusion, I must apologise to many living authors for 

 not having alluded to them and their work, and 

 especially to those authors who have written the 

 histories of the hunting countries of which they have 

 had experience, for their histories invariably show 

 signs of deep research involving long labour. I must, 

 however, compliment the compilers of Baily's Fox- 

 hunting Directory for the usefulness of their work. 

 I can only add now that I trust that the next 

 century will be as prolific in healthy hunting litera- 

 ture as this century has been. 



