24 HUNTING 



a self-preservative reaction, necessitated by the sporting 

 affective elements of the human brain, stimulated by 

 the strange and unfamiliar phenomena, nascent from the 

 processes of incipient insanity, in themselves nascent from 

 morbid selfishness. To a certain very limited extent 

 we, as believers in the creed of sport, may be thankful 

 for the activity thus displayed by our antagonists, since 

 a certain amount of difficulty tends to sharpen the edge 

 of desire, and to add to the zest of pursuit. But at 

 the same time we like to fight against logical consistency, 

 and not to write about the relations between higher 

 and lower volition. So much for the faddists, who 

 may be able to understand the philosophy even if they 

 are unable to indulge in the practice of sport. We 

 apologise to our readers for making these allusions, but 

 the temptation to rebuke the enemies of hunting was 

 too strong to be resisted. Let us now base our argu- 

 ments upon the solid foundation of fact, instead of 

 imitating our opponents by painting imaginative 

 pictures upon a canvas stretched over a proble- 

 matical framework. 



In the first place let us consider the direct material 

 advantages which accrue to the farmer and the agricul- 

 tural interest through hunting. Briefly, they may be 

 summarised as follows : (1) a market for horses, and 

 the consequent encouragement of horse-breeding; (2) 

 a market for fodder; (3) the circulation of money by 

 hunting men in the country, a large proportion of 

 which otherwise would be spent abroad. If it were 

 not for hunting, the horse-breeding industry would 

 become practically extinct in this country, and we 

 should lose a large proportion of national wealth. Let 

 us for a moment particularise. Eoughly, there are 150 

 packs of foxhounds in England ; in each pack we may 



