2 
ANHIVERSYRY ADDRESS RY THE 
laurel-wreath of the victor. While this is undoubtedly true of 
those whose lives are passed or to be passed amid the “ pride, pomp, 
and circumstance ” of war, it is equally applicable to those whose 
career lies in the prosecution of more peaceful employments. 
It will he my object to-night to attempt to demonstrate that our 
national sports have an influence, and a salutary influence, upon 
the national character; for as there are “ sermons in stones ” so is 
there a very series of homilies in what is called the brute creation, 
at all events to those who have the opportunity, and take advantage 
of that opportunity, of making close and practical observation of the 
habits and customs of the animals which minister to their sport or 
which they may chance to meet in their daily walks abroad. Far 
be it from me to deny the superiority of man over the beasts of the 
field. It is of course a truism to say that man is possessed of soul, 
of intellect, and of the powers of reasoning, but it is when these are 
misused or left to lie fallow that one appreciates all the more the 
glorious gift of instinct implanted in animals. “Comparisons are 
odious,” but it cannot be denied that the virago who neglects her 
children, and the drunken sot who beats and starves both wife and 
child, have much to learn from the birds and the beasts, who, 
though lower in the scale of creation, tend their offspring with 
infinite and loving care, and often indeed even risk their lives in 
their defence. It may be that want of education and refinement, 
evil communications, and pernicious example, stand in the way of 
many of the so-called “lords of creation” and prevent them from 
duly performing those duties unto which it has pleased God to call 
them, but if this be so, the fault lies with man himself and his 
misuse and neglect of the talents given to him. England is not 
Utopia. We have not yet arrived at the millennium, but, until 
legislation or education attain that desirable end, those amongst us 
who have been weighed in the balance and found wanting will do 
well to imitate the example of the brute creation, at least in cases 
where soul and intellect have no place. 
In the heat of the chase it is hardly to be expected that the 
sportsman can take other than cursory observation of the animals 
which may form his quarry, and it is only in his quieter and more 
sober moments that their habits and customs become food for reflec¬ 
tion. True it is that some so-called sportsmen indulge in their 
daily pursuits apparently with a view only of boasting of the 
number of the slain or of the perilous obstacles which they may 
have successfully overcome in the hunting-field, but the true 
