INTRODUCTION 



The love of the chase is an instinct which centuries of civilisation have been unable to 

 eradicate ; the pursuit which was a necessity to the savage, and in fact the business of his life, 

 being now followed as a relaxation by those whose means place them in a position where 

 physical toil and hardships are totally unnecessary. 



That this instinct, like most of the promptings of healthy nature, is a pretty safe guide to 

 follow, is generally admitted ; and there are few who question the advantages to be derived 

 from field sports, among the votaries of which may be numbered some of the greatest names 

 in history. 



There is indeed a limited school who talk of the immorality and cruelty of all field 

 sports ; but it will be found that the professors of such doctrines have very peculiar views 

 on other subjects, and seem to make it the business of their lives to prove that the world 

 has been going on a wrong system, and that- they have fortunately been born to set it right. 

 If they had their own way, men would become effeminate, and women would lose much that 

 now gives dignity and charm to their sex. 



So general is the instinct which leads to the love of the chase in its many forms, that it 

 may almost be said to be universal ; and when the taste is not developed, it will generally be 

 found that the want of early initiation, or the absence of opportunity, are the causes to which 

 its absence may be ascribed. 



Some few there are indeed, who cannot appreciate the joys of the chase, like the famous 

 Lord Chesterfield, who 



. . . . ' ' though he rode beyond all price, 

 Asked next day, if men ever hunted twice." 



But probably even he would have become a constant attendant at the covert side if he 

 had gone out that second time. 



It is unnecessary to write a defence of field sports ; most of the charges against them 

 have been often disproved ; but it must be admitted that of late years there has been some 

 foundation for the assertion that men shoot for the love of slaughter and not for healthy 

 excitement. 



Without going into the question whether the battue system as usually conducted is, or 

 is not, a high form of sport, nothing can possibly be said in favor of the practice of turning 

 down pheasants, and even hares and rabbits, the day before a grand shooting party. It is hard 

 to imagine what pleasure any one can find in butchering animals under such circumstances, 



A 



