232 SHOOTING THE PARTRIDGE 



labour of love, they cannot, as the demand increases, 

 add a value to their land which they have hitherto 

 neglected or disbelieved in. 



Land is, and must remain, however charged with 

 burdens, the greatest of all luxuries. Whether for 

 agricultural purposes its value will improve I have 

 not the knowledge to predict, although I know that a 

 few of the wisest and shrewdest men of the day have 

 been investing largely in it during the late depressed 

 period. But that as a luxury, for its amenities and 

 its resources, its sports and its pastimes, its value will 

 rise I have no manner of doubt. Sport is a large 

 component part of that luxury, and partridge-shooting 

 of sport. 



So long as it is looked upon in this light, so long 

 will the game laws be safe, and sport continue to 

 contribute its valuable quota to the race of men who 

 have, piloted by the instincts of the hunter, planted 

 our flag all over the world. Sport, like charity, 

 begins at home, at least to Englishmen ; and it will 

 be a bad day for us when the American millionaire, 

 and still more the successful colonist, cease to look 

 upon a landed estate in England, where they enjoy 

 it in comfort and peace with their neighbours, as the 

 goal of their desires. ' What I like about fox-'unting 

 is, it brings people together as wouldn't otherwise 



