Gentlemen, if I should enlarge my discourse to the observation of the
Eires, the Brancher, the Ramish Hawk, the Haggard, and the two sorts of
Lentners, and then treat of their several Ayries, their Mewings, rare
order of casting, and the renovation of their feathers: their
reclaiming, dieting, and then come to their rare stories of practice; I
say, if I should enter into these, and many other observations that I
could make, it would be much, very much pleasure to me: but lest I
should break the rules of civility with you, by taking up more than the
proportion of time allotted to me, I will here break off, and entreat
you, Mr. Venator, to say what you are able in the commendation of
Hunting, to which you are so much affected; and if time will serve, I
will beg your favour for a further enlargement of some of those several
heads of which I have spoken. But no more at present.
Venator. Well, Sir, and I will now take my turn, and will first begin
with a commendation of the Earth, as you have done most excellently of
the Air; the Earth being that element upon which I drive my pleasant,
wholesome, hungry trade. The Earth is a solid, settled element; an
element most universally beneficial both to man and beast; to men who
have their several recreations upon it, as horse-races, hunting, sweet
smells, pleasant walks: the earth feeds man, and all those several
beasts that both feed him, and afford him recreation. What pleasure doth
man take in hunting the stately Stag, the generous Buck, the wild Boar,
the cunning Otter, the crafty Fox, and the fearful Hare! And if I may
descend to a lower game, what pleasure is it sometimes with gins to
betray the very vermin of the earth; as namely, the Fichat, the
Fulimart, the Ferret, the Pole-cat, the Mouldwarp, and the like
creatures that live upon the face, and within the bowels of, the Earth.
How doth the Earth bring forth herbs, flowers, and fruits, both for
physick and the pleasure of mankind! and above all, to me at least, the
fruitful vine, of which when I drink moderately, it clears my brain,
cheers my heart, and sharpens my wit. How could Cleopatra have feasted
Mark Antony with eight wild Boars roasted whole at one supper, and other
meat suitable, if the earth had not been a bountiful mother? But to pass
by the mighty Elephant, which the Earth breeds and nourisheth, and
descend to the least of creatures, how doth the earth afford us a
doctrinal example in the little Pismire, who in the summer provides and
lays up her winter provision, and teaches man to do the like! The earth
feeds and carries those horses that carry us. If I would be prodigal of
my time and your patience, what might not I say in commendations of the
earth? That puts limits to the proud and raging sea, and by that means
preserves both man and beast, that it destroys them not, as we see it
daily doth those that venture upon the sea, and are there shipwrecked,
drowned, and left to feed Haddocks; when we that are so wise as to keep
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