PRINCE &= PEASANT, PEER &■ PHEASANT iij 



The persons who, because they are unable or 

 unwiUing to take part in it, are never weary of reite- 

 rating that pheasant shooting is not sport, and there- 

 fore a cruel and effeminate pursuit, are right in a sense 

 that they do not themselves intend to convey, and 

 entirely wrong in the conclusion they draw. 



Pheasant shooting is not sport ; that is, it is not, 

 under modern conditions, a contest between man and 

 a wild animal difficult to find, circumvent and secure . 

 But it is a very excellent pastime, and one which, 

 conducted without cruelty, the possessor of land and 

 money has a right to enjoy if he pleases, the inviolate 

 right of a British subject to do what he likes with his 

 own, so long as in so doing he does not break the law 

 or inflict injury on others. 



True, it is hardly accessible to the poor man ; yet 

 the majority of poor men are the better for its exis- 

 tence, as I have tried to show. Deep and loud would 

 be the curses from many a humble home in town and 

 country were this so-called debasing sport, which is 

 in reality an important industry, abolished by that 

 enemy of mankind, the self-seeking, vainglorious, 

 insincere, ignorant person known nowadays as a 

 ' faddist.' 



We who enjoy it do not dream of calling ourselves 

 ' sportsmen ' because we take part in a few weeks' 



