884 HUNTING. 



to the force and precision with which it carries its 

 shot. Thus, if the game be stricken, it is stricken 

 to instant death, not wounded and mangled by 

 weak, scattered shot. Another consideration pre- 

 sents itself in the discussion of this subject. Life 

 is said to be " sweet ;" but strip it of intellectual 

 enjoyment, and its sweetness is very considerably 

 abated. And we will go one step farther. The 

 natural death of wild animals must generally be 

 lingering, and often painful in the extreme ; they 

 have no relief to fly to, but perish as it were by 

 inches. This being admitted, perhaps the hand 

 that instantly deprives them of life may be deemed 

 the hand of a friend. 



An old English writer on field-sports thus forci- 

 bly, though somewhat boldly, expresses himself on 

 the alleged cruelty of hunting the hare to death. 

 •' What can be a more convincing proof of God's 

 infinite wisdom, or even of his indulgence to the 

 sons of men, than the formation of this animal (the 

 hare,) which naturally flies from creatures she never 

 beheld in her life, makes use of the most refined 

 politics to escape their pursuits (although she can- 

 not foresee whether they are the efiects of love or 

 anger,) and yet is forced to leave behind her such 

 particles of matter as betray her flight I Again, of 

 how nice and curious a contexture must be the in- 

 numerable pores or pipes of the dog's nostrils, which 

 serve as so many sheaths, or canals, to convey the 

 said particles to the brains of the hounds, there to 

 animate and put in motion every limb, joint, and 

 muscle of their bodies. How excellent was the 



