e
very great; but, at best, the occupation is usually accompanied with
rude and turbulent habits; and, when combined with these, it constitutes
what is termed the savage state of man. As culture advances, and as the
soil proportionably becomes devoted to the plough or to the sustenance
of the tamer or more domesticated animals, the range of the huntsman is
proportionably limited; so that when a country has attained to a high
state of cultivation, hunting becomes little else than an amusement of
the opulent. In the case of fur-bearing animals, however, it is somewhat
different; for these continue to supply the wants of civilization with
one of its most valuable materials of commerce.

1010. THE THEMES WHICH FORM THE MINSTRELSY OF THE EARLIEST AGES, either
relate to the spoils of the chase or the dangers of the battle-field.
Even the sacred writings introduce us to Nimrod, the first mighty hunter
before the Lord, and tell us that Ishmael, in the solitudes of Arabia,
became a skilful bow-man; and that David, when yet young, was not afraid
to join in combat with the lion or the bear. The Greek mythology teems
with hunting exploits. Hercules overthrows the Nemaean lion, the
Erymanthean boar, and the hydra of Lerna; Diana descends to the earth,
and pursues the stag; whilst Aesculapius, Nestor, Theseus, Ulysses, and
Achilles are all followers of the chase. Aristotle, sage as he was,
advises young men to apply themselves early to it; and Plato finds in it
something divine. Horace exalts it as a preparative exercise for the
path of glory, and several of the heroes of Homer are its ardent
votaries. The Romans followed the hunting customs of the Greeks, and the
ancient Britons were hunters before Julius Caesar invaded their shores.

1011. ALTHOUGH THE ANCIENT BRITONS FOLLOWED HUNTING, however, they did
not confine themselves solely to its pursuit. They bred cattle and
tilled the ground, and, to some extent, indicated the rudimentary state
of a pastoral and agricultural life; but, in every social change, the
sports of the field maintained their place. After the expulsion of the
Danes, and during the brief restoration of the Saxon monarchy, these
were still followed: even Edward the Confessor, who would join in no
other secular amusements, took the greatest delight, says William of
Malmesbury, "to follow a pack of swift hounds in pursuit of game, and to
cheer them with his voice."

1012. NOR WAS EDWARD the only English sovereign