92 SPORTING PARSONS OF THE OLD SCHOOL : 



sporting parson, who would sincerely and piously exclaim 

 " God forbid." 



Without wishing to commit sporting parsons, or 

 presuming to represent their views or philosophy as 

 identical with my own, yet, having had the opportunity of 

 discussing the subject with many clerics, I venture, with 

 due regard to this important reservation, to give what I 

 believe approximately to be 



Their Philosophy of the Chase. 



Whilst the first and third of the above propositions may 

 be disregarded for the moment, and afterwards easily 

 dismissed, the second, alleging cruelty, we will endeavour 

 to further elucidate. For it may candidly be admitted that 

 there are few amongst the most stalwart supporters of fox- 

 hunting who, when novitiates, did not experience some 

 doubt or qualm upon the subject. This qualified admission 

 should, in itself, be some guarantee that fox-hunting men 

 are neither devoid of sentiment nor lacking in sympathy, 

 still less are they so cruel and blood-thirsty as their 

 detractors would try to persuade themselves and others to 

 believe. 



It may be acknowledged that occasionally a man, or 

 more often youthful beginner, does, from lack of judgment, 

 or carried away by excitement, override his horse; but if this 

 is accompanied by any unjustifiable use of the spur, such 

 cruelty is very rightly regarded as reprehensible by the 

 rest of the field. Allowing therefore that such cases 

 deserve severe condemnation, we know there are horses so 

 game and full of courage who, without any such urging, will 

 go till they drop, taking as much delight in the chase as their 

 rider ; thus, so far as they are concerned, proving the 

 truth of the old adage, " The men like it, the horses 

 like it, the hounds like it, and who's to say the fox 

 don't like it ? " Of course accidents happen in the 

 hunting field as elsewhere, but it must not be overlooked 



