FIELD SPORTS ON CHARACTER 13 



capture, and that every fair chance of escape is 

 given to it ; and thirdly, that whatever the premises 

 may be, the conckision remains, that there is no race 

 so far removed from carelessness of animal life and 

 happiness as the English. 



There are, however, other field sports which do not 

 involve any destruction of life, and which, from the 

 general way in which they are pursued, may fairly be 

 called national. Foremost amongst these is racing. 



Were racing freed from any influence, other than 

 that which distinguished the races of past epochs, 

 the desire of success ; were the prize a crown of 

 parsley or of laurel, and the laudable desire of 

 victory the only inducement to contention, the 

 effect on the men who are devoted to it could 

 not be otherwise than for good. In modern 

 racing, however, the element of pecuniary gain 

 comes in so strongly, that the worst points of 

 the human character are stimulated by it instead 

 of the best, and the improvement of horseflesh 

 and the breed of horses is sacrificed to the tem- 

 porary advantage of owners of horses. To say, 

 now, that a man is going on the turf, is to say, 

 that he had almost be better under it ; and though 

 a few exceptional cases are found, in which men 

 persistently keeping race horses have maintained 

 their independence and strict integrity in spite of 

 the many temptations with which they are assailed. 



