8 ANTIQUITY OF HUNTING. 



professedly admire ; it would be needless there- 

 fore to enumerate the heroes of antiquity who 

 were taught the art of hunting, or the many 

 great men, among whom was the famous Galen, 

 who join in recommending it. I shall, however, 

 remind you that your beloved hero, Henry the 

 Fourth of France, made it his chief amusement, 

 and his very love-letters, strange as it may 

 appear, are full of little else ; and that one of 

 the greatest ministers this country ever produ- 

 ced was so fond of this diversion, that the first 

 letter he opened, as I have been told, was gene- 

 rally that of his huntsman. In most countries, 

 from the earliest times, hunting has been a prin- 

 cipal occupation of the people, either for use or 

 amusement, and many princes have made it their 



1781) ; nor will any thing satisfy the critic less than its 

 total abolition. He recommends feats of agility to be prac- 

 tised and exhibited instefcd of it. Whether the amendment 

 proposed by the learned gentleman be desirable or not, I 

 shall forbear to determine ; taking the liberty, however, to 

 remind him, that as hunting hath stood its gi'ound trom the 

 earliest times, been encouraged and approved by the best 

 authorities, and practised by the greatest men, it cannot 

 now be supposed either to dread criticism, or to need sup- 

 port. Hunting originates in Nature itself; and it is in 

 perfect correspondence with this law of Nature, that the 

 several animals are provided with necessary means of attack 

 and defence. 



