Related article:
240
daily's magazine.
[October
engaged in the primitive pursuits
of hunting, herding and agricul-
ture, is no bad preparation for a
campaign, and Purchase Benazepril Online may equal in value
the study of text books of strategy
and tactics and the theoretical
handling of bodies of armed men.
It almost appears as if operations
of war, conducted on what we
may call ** sporting " principles,
have in some circumstances rather
the best of it, when opposed to
movements devised by the best
military European science. We
cannot of course throw our officers
back altogether into primitive
conditions, but we should cer-
tainly not deny them any oppor-
tunities that they find for them-
selves of gaining the experience
which is given by pursuits founded
on primitive passions and carried
out by the primitive faculties of
man. Baily's Magazine takes
cognisance of sport and the study
of sport in all its branches, and,
in its pages, it cannot but enforce
the principle that sport is a most
important factor in our national
life and has an influence that can-
not be minimised in cultivating
much that is good in our national
character. Whatever is good for
the nation at large must be good
for its Army in particular, and,
more than this, the special advan-
tages to be derived from sport
appear to be more applicable to
the requirements of the Army
than to those of any other trade
or profession. All sports offer
some permanent good in addition
to temporary relaxation ; some
give strength and agility to the
body, some quickness to the eye,
some harden the constitution,
some promote horsemanship. All
exercise the brain more than is
generally believed. There are
none which do not leave a man
better physically and mentally,
and more able to cope with diffi-
culty and danger.
Surely England and England^s
administrators will not be so mad
as to listen to the unthinking cry
of those who would do anything
to discourage the pursuit of
healthy sport in England's Army-
Englishmen who now seek for
commissions are ready to submit
to any trials, to go through any
training, to acquire any qualifica-
tion, that will make them efficient
and trustworthy servants of the
state. Let any path of duty be
pointed out and they will unhesi-
tatingly follow it ; but let us
beware of interfering with sporting
proclivities, lest in withdrawing
an influence which has, most
falsely we think, been credited
with doing harm to professional
efficiency, we find that we have
removed one that has ever done a
superlative amount of good.
We believe most firmly that
the real and enthusiastic sports-
man is a half-made soldier and
that any curtailment of sporting
pursuits among our officers would
make for the deterioration of our
Army. Absit omen,
C. Stein.
o am
Z. S
!
i9oa]
241
*^ Animal Painters.
The mass of information contained
in these handsome volumes* in-
dicates an immense amount of
research and constant discrimina-
tion; and only a man possessing
the rare combination of artistic
and sporting tastes, with leisure to
indulge them, could have under-
taken so large a task and have
carried it to a successful issue.
The author observes in his pre-
face, "it is strange no work has
yet appeared which chronicles the
names of performances of artists
who have devoted their talents to
the portrayal of animal life and
scenes of sport." We will add to
this that it is fortunate the task
has been reserved for such com-
petent hands.
Until the latter portion of the
seventeenth century English art
as exemplified by the painter was
practically non-existent. We find
drawings in colour on old manu-
scripts, and the best of these serve
to show Generic Benazepril us how little idea of the
elements of drawing those em-
ployed to illuminate such MSS.
possessed. The first artist of
English birth who deserved the
name was Francis Barlow, who
was born about the year 1628.
His work as a painter of animal
and bird life showed marked ad-
vance on any illuminations to be
found on manuscripts, but there
is necessarily a wide gulf between
the merit of his productions and
the merit attained by painters of
a century later. In appraising
the deserts of the pictures de-
scribed, and of which numerous
representative examples are here
reproduced, the reader should re-
member the axiom adopted by the
author : "If it appear that the
* "Animal Painters of Eri2li>nd : from the year
1650." A brief history of their lives and works.
In two volumes. Illustrated. By Sir Walter
Oilbey, Bart. (Vinton & Co., Ltd.)
praise bestowed on these early
pictures is higher than they de-
serve, let it be borne in mind
that their merits must be con-
sidered not by the artistic stan-
dards of the present day, but in
comparison with the worth of
contemporary or previous pain-
ters." The rule is a sound one ;
and had the main object of the
work been to demonstrate pro-
gress, it would have been well to
arrange the biographies in chrono-
logical rather than in alphabetical
order. The author's aim, however,
is rather to show us how much
lovers of field sports and of animals,
the horse particularly, owe to these
old painters ; and that the painter
tells us a great deal that the
writer omits cannot be gainsaid : in
Sir Walter's words, " The details
which, by reason of their absolute
familiarity or co;itemporary insig-
nificance escape the chronicler, are
perpetuated by the artist."
In collecting the information he
has done concerning some fifty
artists, and presenting them in
this sumptuous form, the author
has rendered no small service to
the history of sport, for it is from
the sportsman's point of view that
we approach his work. The first
volume opens with Henry Aiken,