XX11 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



gium upon field-sports ; nor shall we endeavor to exhibit to 

 the world the many benefits and advantages to be derived 

 from the general encouragement of these healthful pursuits. 



We beg merely to remind the student of science, the 

 cunning expounder of Blackstone, the deeply-read follower 

 of Galen, the shrewd devotee of commerce, as well as the 

 most skilful and industrious of artisans, that their intellectual 

 powers demand some remission of their labors, and that their 

 physical energies also need a certain degree of recreation or 

 resuscitation to enable them to pursue those studies and attain 

 those ends which stern necessity or exalted ambition prompts 

 them to undertake. 



How, then, or where, then, may we ask, can this relaxation 

 of the mind as well as of the body be more agreeably obtained 

 than in the open fields and beautiful forests of our favored 

 country? There, and there alone, far away from the busy 

 throngs of selfish men, wandering with some favored friend, 

 in sweet communion with the green fields, the stately forests, 

 and limpid streams, the mind of the most grave and studious 

 becomes truly unbent and freed from its labors. There the 

 heart beats with renewed vigor, the blood courses through its 

 usually sluggish channels with a quickened pace, and the 

 whole animal as well as intellectual economy becomes sharp- 

 ened and revivified under exciting and healthful influences. 



Add, then, to this scene the eager sportsman, surrounded 

 by his faithful and sagacious dogs ; call up the sharp echo of 

 the unerring gun ; recollect the plaintive call of the timid 

 partridge, the startling whirr of the affrighted pheasant, the 

 rapid flight of the lonely woodcock, the devious course of 

 the fickle snipe, or, perchance, the sudden rush of the skulking 

 hare, and the picture is complete. Then tell us whether such 

 scenes as these are not calculated to enliven the mind, expand 

 the energies, and not only bring the glow of health to the 

 cheek of youth, but infuse renewed vigor into the very soul 

 of the infirm and sedentary. 



