PREFACE. 27 



*' lit sua meiiti constet sanitas, " says Christopher Wase to 



WiHiam Lord Herbert, " et justum corpori accedat robur." 



It must ever be borne in mind that tlie iUustrious heroes of 



Xenophon's classic file acquired not their renown by hunting 



prowess alone, but by its union with moral and intellectual 



endowments : ex tyi§ £7r</x=As/«j rijj twv xyv«Jv xa) xvvriys(rlctiv xcii Ik Xenophon. Cy- 



neg. c. I. 

 T^j oiWrig 7ra«8sia; ttoXu ^tsvsyxovTsg xaroi t^v upiTrjv eSccu[jia.<rQrj(rav. 



Chiron himself was invested with the privileges and science 



of the chase on account of his moral worth, S«« 3«xajoT)jTa — for 



he was 8ixa»oT«Vo5 KevruvpMv. And the numerous disciples of Orph. Argon. 



V. 37T. 



the craft, distinguished in the annals of the world as practical 



sportsmen, from Cephalus and ^sculapius to iEneas and 



Achilles, left other claims on the notice of posterity than those 



attached to their characters as jOta9r,Tat xwriyearloov. ^ Xenophon. Cy- 



neg. c. I. 



know that such Sonierville, The 



Transporting pleasures were by heav'n ordain'd *-/liace. 



Wisdom's relief, and virtue's great reward. 



But it is time to cease both praise and reprehension : of the 



J. The disastrous casualties that have befallen divers of the worshipful but rash 



disciples of Chiron and his compeers are recorded in terrorem by a Sicilian amateur of 



falconry. Will the timid courser venture to mount his " smart hack or Zetland 



shelty," after reading the following summary of these fatalities 1 " Meleager en La Fauconnerie 



perdit la vie, pour la victoire rapportee sur le sanglier de Calidoine. Le bel Adonis , J^^^e^sire Ar- 



thelouche de 

 fut lire par un sanglier. Acteon fut d6vor6 de ses propres chiens. Cephale y tua Aiagona. 



sa chere Procris, et Acaste en fut interdict, ayant occis le fils du Roy qui luy avoit 



este donne en charge, comme fut Brutus pour avoir tue son pere Sylvius par 



mesgarde. Un Empereur fut occis par la beste qu'il poursuivoit. Un Roy en 



courant a la chasse se cassa le col en tombant de cheval." The legitimacy of the 



inference drawn by Le Conseiller et Chambellan du Roy de Sicile is doubtful — 



" Que qui craindra ces dangereux effectz qu'il s'adonne a la vollerie, oii il trouvera 



sans doubte plus grand plaisir." The superior pleasure of the latter is as equivocal 



as its inferior danger; and pursued to excess, I should think, must share equality of 



peril and of blame. 



