THE ETHICS OF FIELD SPORTS. 571 



A mere love of slaughter does not bespeak a sportsman; 

 that feeling might be better gratified in the abattoir than in 

 the woods. No matter how abundant the game, none but a 

 brute would ever kill it for the mere pleasure of killing, 

 and leave it to rot on the ground. The feeling of utility 

 must be associated with its capture. If it can not be util- 

 ized, a pang of regret must take the place of gratification, 

 in the breast of a true sportsman, when he sees his game laid 

 prone before him; and how glad would he be were it alive, 

 and bounding away through the woods or over the prairie ! 



The true sportsman's camj) is a school for the young 

 beginner, where he may learn many things besides the mode 

 of pursuing and capturing his game. If he be fortunate 

 in selecting his associates in his early outings, he will learn 

 many things, besides the mode of hunting, which will con- 

 tribute largely to the pleasure of his life in after years. 

 He will learn how largely acts of kindness and courtesy 

 toward his companions contribute to the happiness of all; 

 to commend the skill of others rather than to boast of his 

 own; to strike or pitch a tent; how to dress his game; to 

 cook a meal, when occasion shall require; and a thousand 

 other things which need not be mentioned here. He will 

 learn that a sportsman may be a gentleman, and indeed 

 should be, if he would make himself agreeable to his com- 

 panions, and contribute his share to the enjoyment of the 

 excursion. 



The true sportsman does not hunt solely for game, but 

 for the i^leasure it affords him, for health, and to rest him- 

 self from the toil of business. In this he is rarely disap- 

 pointed. Look about you and see what a large proportion 

 of those who have, each year, torn themselves from busi- 

 ness, and spent a few weeks in the hunter's camp, or on the 

 banks of streams, enjoy robust health, even in advanced 

 age. Their systems, when young, become well knit together, 

 their constitutions greatly strengthened, and so they are 

 enabled to perform more labor, and with less fatigue, than 

 those who lack the energy or the inclination to leave their 

 common avocations and seek much-needed rest. 



