216 THE FOX 



sport are not merely idle spectators ; they share in 

 the fatigue, and to a certain extent in the peril of the 

 fox. They are not passive spectators. The pain and 

 death of the fox is an accident of the sport : a 

 necessary one, for foxes must be killed, and it matters 

 very little to the fox how he meets his death. I 

 have given reasons for thinking that he does not 

 realise what hunting means, and if he does, then 

 to hunt and be hunted is a law of his nature. Nor 

 are we quite in the same position with regard to 

 the fox as the bear-baiters to the bear, for we take 

 from the fox what we have given and what we 

 have the right to give or withhold from the lower 

 animals, the permission to live. The fox receives 

 certain privileges in order that he may be hunted, and 

 though he cannot be a party to the arrangement, 

 it is clearly for his good. The joy of living is much 

 greater than the fear of death or pain in the lower 

 animals. Were it not so the world of nature would 

 be a scene of suffering which it would be terrible 

 to contemplate. We may therefore be sure we give 

 more than we take. But, after all, it is only the 

 method which is in question. Even so, this brings 

 nothing new into the history of the race of foxes : the 

 wolf, the leopard, and the dog have always hunted them. 

 There never has been a time in the history of 



