VUl PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITIOX. 



enable him to pursue those studies and attain those ends that 

 stern necessity or exalted amljition prompts him to undertake. 



How, then, or Avhere, 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 be- 

 comes 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 Avell as intellectual economy becomes sharpened and revivi- 

 fied under exciting and healthful influences. 



Add, then, to this scene the eager Sportsman, surrounded by 

 his faithful and sagacious Dogs ; call up tlie sharp echo of the 

 unerring Gun; recollect the plaintive call of the timid Par- 

 tridge, the startling Avhir of the affrighted Pheasant, the ra})id 

 flight of the lonely Woodcock, the devious course of tlie 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, expanfl the ener- 

 gies, and not only bring the glow of liealth to the cheek of 

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

 and sedentary. 



Is there not a time when the wan-faced Student of science 

 may nc|dcct for a while the sickly flickerings of tlie midnight 

 lamp ? ^s tliei"c not a time when the learned Counsellor may 

 escape the wranglings, the jeerings, the bitter feuds of tlie halls 

 of justice ? And is there not a moment of leisure, an hour of 

 repose, when the skilful Physician may turn a deaf ear to the 

 harassing solicitations of sufierinj^ humanitv, and draw for a 

 brief period the curtain of oblivion around the couch of disease 

 and death ? 



Yes ! there is a time for all these ; and there is a time when 

 even the anxious, upright, and enterprising Merchant may, for 

 a brief period, while quaifing, as it were, the fabled waters of 

 Lethe, forget the perplexities of commerce, the fluctuations of 

 trade, tlie uncertainty of riches, and remain even unmindful of 



