4 FOX-HUNTING ON THE DECLINE. 



which, he says, constitutes the chief pleasure. That 

 excellent divine Dr. Paley was a sportsman, and 

 although his practice was confined to the " gentle 

 craft" of fishing, he always spoke of sportsmen with 

 respect ; he felt the inward delight which emanated 

 from the enjoyment of the contemplation of nature and 

 her various pursuits ; but while he acknowledged the 

 pleasure he derived from such recreations, he was at a 

 loss to express or even to discover, why he was thus 

 amused, and declared "he never yet met with any 

 sportsman who could tell him in what the sport con- 

 sisted, who could resolve it into its principle, and state 

 that principle."* 



It is no less extraordinary than true, that although 

 the votaries of the chaste Diana are much increased in 

 numbers, as each hunting season returns with the 

 " cloudy sky" of November, still hunting is most truly 

 considered to be on the decline. The noble science is 

 not cultivated as in the days of a Meynel, a Corbet, or 

 a Warde, and although some wealthy and staunch sup- 

 porters of " the good old cause" are still left in the 

 persons of a Moreton, a Scott, a Berkeley, and a So- 

 merset, the rising representatives of our great aristo- 

 cracy, have, I fear, far different allurements to the field 

 than the cultivation of that noblest of amusements. It 

 has been very often and justly remarked, that a man 

 cannot hunt from a bad motive ; and with this opinion 

 I most firmly agree ; and whether it be the desire to 

 enjoy the most exhilarating of exercises, the innate 

 fondness of " cofiee-housing," the harmless recreation 

 of exhibiting oneself in a new scarlet coat and leather 



* Paley's Nat. Theol. p. 262. 



