10 PARTRIDGES 



Fifteen years ago Mr. C. Stuart 

 Wortley was able to write that "the 

 game laws stand on safer ground than 

 they have ever done in the history of 

 England." 



Could he say the same to-day ? Sport, 

 which must be the luxury of the few, 

 is such an easy subject of attack, pro- 

 vided only that your audience be ignorant 

 enough. Attack, however unjust, when 

 virulent and oft-repeated, undoubtedly 

 will have effects, especially when the de- 

 fence is silent ; and the difficulty of a 

 right understanding lies not a little in 

 a certain slackness noticeable among 

 those most interested. It is quite com- 

 mon to hear it said in the smoking-room 

 " Let's have a good shoot now ; who 

 knows whether there will be any shooting 

 in ten years' time." This deplorable 

 attitude of laisser-faire, this philosophical 

 pessimism, cannot be too strongly con- 

 temned. 



We game-preservers must realize that 

 though the arguments of our detractors 



