‘ARMA VIRUMQUE CANO’ 89 
down what I pretty well know, as we painters say, 
‘from nature,’ and what I do not know shall say 
nothing about, and possibly my reader, if he be a 
member of ‘the public,’ may never discover my 
ignorance. Talking of the public, I have never yet 
been able to discover who the public are. I think in 
this country there is a public for everything. I know 
there is one for partridge-shooting, just as I am con- 
vinced there is one for organ-grinding, and just as I 
belong te the one, so I am very sure I do not belong 
to the other. Then, again, the shooting public, to 
whom I am advised to appeal, is much divided. 
There are, and always were since I can recollect, the 
two classes of men to whom shooting is a pleasure, 
but who look at it from very different points of view ; 
although with each the pursuit of game is a ruling 
passion. They have only that instinct in common. 
One man, whom I will call A., is the accomplished 
driving shot, the jz de siécle exponent of the modern 
art of gunnery, or of the management of an im- 
portant beat, shooting very brilliantly, and though 
luxurious by habit, probably no /ainéant at other 
vigorous sports and pastimes. He is armed with the 
most beautiful pair of guns, his cartridges are loaded 
with the utmost care and the best of powder, and he 
has a well-trained servant to load for him. 
