2 ART EASILY ACQUIRED. [CH. r. 



principle. You know your own circumstances, and you 

 must yourself determine what time you choose to devote 

 to tuition ; and, as a consequence, the degree of excel- 

 lence to which you aspire. I can only assure you of 

 my firm conviction, that no other means will enable 

 you to gain your object so quickly ; and I speak with a 

 confidence derived from long experience in many parts 

 of the world, on a subject that was, for several years, 

 my great hobby.* 



3. Every writer is presumed to take some interest in 

 his reader ; I therefore feel privileged to address you as 

 a friend, and will commence my lecture by strongly 

 recommending, that, if your occupations will allow it, 

 you take earnestly and heartily to educating your dogs 

 yourself. If you possess temper and some judgment, 

 and will implicity attend to my advice, I will go bail 

 for your success ; and much as you may now love 

 shooting, you will then like it infinitely more. Try the 

 plan I recommend, and I will guarantee that the Pointer 

 or Setter pup which I will, for example sake, suppose to 

 be now in your 'kennel, shall' be ~a better dog by the end 

 of next season (I mean a more killing dog) than pro- 

 bably any you ever yet shot over. 



4. Possibly; you will urge, that you are unable to 

 spare the time which I consider necessary for giving 

 him a high education, (brief as that time is, compared 

 with the many, many months wasted in the tedious 

 methods usually employed), and that you must, perforce, 



* It may be satisfactory to others Hutchinson's valuable work on 



to know the opinion of so unde- 'Dog-breaking' has appeared. It 



niable an authority as Colonel is a perfect vade mecum for both 



Hawker. The Colonel, in the Sportsmen and Keeper, and I 



Tenth Edition of his invaluable have great pleasure in giving a 



Book on Shooting, writes, . ^page cordial welcome to a work which 



285) "Since the publication of so ably supplies my own defi- 



the last edition, Lieutenant-Col. ciencies." 



