92 THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 



upon two cocks, in the arena of a pit, in the light of two 

 champions of olden times, who rush to the charge for glory 

 only, and imagine that, in the shrill and animating note of 

 their crowing, you hear the herald's clarion, still, I consider 

 the first 'setting to,' as it is called, of two highly-bred 

 gamecocks, one of the most interesting sights that animated 

 nature can exhibit. Their determined courage throughout 

 the battle, and their invincible spirit, to conquer or die, 

 are something more than natural, and seem to justify the 

 absurd notions entertained by the ancients of these birds, 

 not only in calling them sacred to the sun, but making 

 them to participate of a certain solar divinity, and to be 

 thus feared at all events, reverenced even by the lion. 

 But look at the cock in his natural state a state of 

 freedom. What a beautiful animal he is ! What a 

 pattern of a warrior, a husband, and a fine gentleman ! 

 See him clap his wings and crow ; how proud of his 

 courage does he appear ; how gallant he is to his females ; 

 how jealous of a rival ; and how he is formed for con- 

 tending with him, for he is all muscle and bone ! Then 

 observe what language he has at his command ! If he 

 finds food, he calls a favourite female to partake of it ; if 

 a danger appears, he bids his family beware ; and he has 

 his amorous phrases as well as his terms of defiance and of 

 battle. But his crowing why, he may be said to invoke 

 the sun ; indeed, Shakspeare calls him ' the trumpet to 

 the morn ' ; and many other poets have borrowed their 

 images from him 



' The crested cock whose clarion sounds the silent hours ; ' 



amongst the most beautiful of them, as ' the 'larum of the 

 country labourer.' " 



"Well said, Frank Raby," exclaimed Hargrave ; " upon 

 my soul you would make a good Methodist preacher, but I 

 much doubt your ever becoming a cocker." 



" I don't know what to say on that point yet," replied 

 Frank. " There is much to admire in a battle, and still 

 more in the system throughout ; but I feel that there is 

 something both disgusting and cruel in a long-protracted 

 battle, however indicative it may be of the invincible 

 courage of the animal, and however productive of a moral, 

 as Mr. Wyndham and others have considered it to be. 

 But as you are such an advocate for cock-fighting, let me 

 hear what you have to say in defence of it." 



