[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Those readers of the
Spectator who hunt but have twinges of conscience will have read with interest "Whipper- In's" letter in defence of hunting. In connexion with the consideration of the matter, I should• like, if I may, to make
the following suggestions. • '
1. Let the hunter, who knows what it is to return hot, tired, -and happy -after a long day's sport, make allowance
for the frigidity of the man who has not had that pleasure, and vice versa. • 2. Let human sensibility be not attributed to animals in too great a degree—nor in too little. • 8. Let hunting be deemed not -to- include the pursuit of' animals where the quarry has not some reasonable chance of escape, or where neither risk nor some considerable physical exertion is involved for the pursuer*. It is` idle to attempt to defend some sorts of " sport." -
Logically it seems hard to maintain that hunting is ethically defensible; if it be 'assumed that it is Wrong to do evil that good may come. Whether in this case it is practicable and desirable to act logically, is by no means certain. My own experience has been that I feel better morally and physically after a day's hunting, that qualms of conscience are a*con- cornitant of less robust health, and that genuine--'hunting people are most humane -with a common-sense huinanity
towards animals in general.-=I am; Sir, &e., • G. W. M.
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