PREFACE. XI 



I held the writings of a contemporary as utterly iiu 

 worthy of notice, or that I yielded a tacit assent to 

 the promulgation of doctrines which, not only in my 

 own opinion, but in that of all enlightened authorities 

 to whom I have referred them, are calculated to mis- 

 lead those whom they are intended to enlighten. In 

 dealing with these, as with public property, I trust it 

 is unnecessary for me to disclaim a spirit of acrimony, 

 or any feeling unworthy the relationship of brother- 

 sportsmen, both aiming at the same end. 



I remember once to have heard a celebrated general 

 officer remark, in allusion to the publication of a cer- 

 tain adjutant upon field exercise, "That adjutant is a 

 better man with the drill than with the quill." It is 

 very possible, that a man may shine as a rider, without 

 attaining any degree of eminence as a writer. I may, 

 perhaps, in my own person, offer an instance of failure 

 in both respects ; but having, in my first chapter, 

 touched sufficiently upon my own fears, I will only 

 add, in the apologetic sense of one line, and in the 

 supplicatory tone of another, from Ovid, 



" Confiteor si quid prodest delicta fateri." 

 " Da placidam f esso lector amice manum." 



F. P. D. R 



