The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1873-10-29
SPORTS or THE ENGLIsH GENTRY.

Another thing sadly marred my enjoyment
of the Dorest landscape namely, the fact
that was there In the hunting and shooting
season. Several Of the farms by which
passed were literally hcneycombed with the
holes made by those destructive little animals
which England refuses to call vermin, but
which the farmers know to b such. Not
that burrowing the ground Is the chief evil re-
sulting from the overpreservation Of game
the hares and rabbits devour immense quanti-
ties of the farmers produce, and the deer
drive laborers from the land. A member Of
Parliament recently described hares and rab-
bits as british lions . which shave COM
mitted ten times as much ravagc and desola-
ton as the tigers Of Bengal" and he quoted
a letter from farmer which said that the
only difference between game-preserving land
lords and highwaymen is that the landlords
have had the making of the laws" The rail-
way carriages In Dorset were filed with the
relocated gentry going off to their "sport,
and many poor creature must have iound
the sparkling days gloomy enough. In TINS
years Royal Academy exhibition (1s71) that
powerful artist, v. c. Prinsep, has large
painting of the Morse god odin tramping over
the waste of Northern snow, attended by his
raven. The picture was suggested by the
lines of Norris Lorers Of Gudrun:
a As slow-paced weary-faced he went along
Anxious with all the tales of woe and wrong :,
His ravens thought and memory bring to him.
There is weird sadness on the great dark face
of him but If in the grounds around Walhalla
Odin still continues to hunt the boar, and re-
members that. as the Wild Huntsman, he has
given to the Teutonic and Anglo Saxon races
those sports which were once serious and me-
cessary pursuits, what "tales Of woe and
wrong - must his raven whisper in his ear
Surely the old god would put up his spear and
let it rust at the thought of what toiling Sax
on men suffer, to say nothing of the wretched
animals If Mr.. Darwin's industry in tracing
the human family tree to its roots In these
four-footed creatures is distressing in one way,
perhaps we shall find some day compensa-
tion from his theory in its suggestion to our
sportsmen that they are hunting their ances-
tors Whether the family pride of the deer
will feel wounded by the attempt to connect
them with the two-footed species which finds
its chief pleasure in prosecuting and decorating
them, do not pretend to say but surely no
keener satire has ever been uttered by a class
of men upon itself than when the country gen.
tlemen recently declared, on motion in Par
lament to abolish the game-laws, that in such
an event they would take no interest in their
estates personally, and England as well as Ire
land would be cursed with absenteeism.
Some English sports are at once mean and
cruel / am not enthusiastic admirer of
Disraelis new novel, but remember feeling
some delight when he makes Lady Corisande
say to Lothair when he derived congratulation
after the pigeon match, "a tournament OF
doves I would rather see you all in the list
of Ashby."--M. d. CONWAY, in Harper's
Magazine for NoremJer.