Dedication
To those
To the Reader
Man, the Abridgement of the Creation, or the Compendium of all Gods Works, having divested himself by Sin of that Original Innocence and Angelical State of Life wherein his Creator had placed him, and thereby Subjected his collapsed Nature to the Malediction of God, In the sweat of thy Face thou shalt eat thy Bread, &c. It pleased however the Almighty to continue and confirm that Original grand Charter he had at first granted him, of being Lord of the Creatures: Hereby intimating, That tho man is now Born to Trouble, Labour and Cares, as the Sparks fly upward; yet God has not deprived him of any Comfort or Felicity, which the Earth or Creatures of it can afford; but has invested him with a superior Authority and Dominion over the Beast of the Feild, the Fowl of the Air, and the Fish of the Sea. Thus it comes to pass, that every Creature payes a Duty and a Subjection, (as it were) to man, as to their Master; and notwithstanding the Ferocity and Salvageness of their Natures, become tame and submissive to the Empire of Man. They court his Favour and mutely supplicate his Friendship and Confederacy, for the subduing the Enemies of their several Species: They readily obey his Precepts, and ravisht with his Service willingly execute his Commands. And thus by this prime Priviledg from God, Man is allowed the Liberty of subduing the Creature, and recreating his Mind by Hunting, Fowling, Fishing and the like; and by observing the Natural Instincts of every Species, the innate Enmity and Cunning of every Creature, may glorify the Immense Wisdom of his Creator.
And as the Liberty of Recreation in lawful Exercises is thus Naturall, so is it highly Necessary and Useful too. Recreation keeps up the strength and Alacrity of the bodily Forces, without which the Soul cannot work: I mean those brisk and violent Exercises, which the Following sheets specifie. They cause the Body to transpire plentiful sweats, and exhale those black and fuliginous Vapours which too much oppress some men, and remove the Obstructions which hinder the Circulation of Nature. Brisk Exercises render a man Active, Vigorous, Strong, and Hardy, and attenuate and disperse that Stagnation of humors, Benummedness and Dulness, which Idleness contracts: Nay, (as one excellently observes) divers bodily Infirmities, Diseases and Undecencies are hereby regulated and amended: Riding was used by the great Drusus for the Strengthening his weak and small Thighs and Legs; and by his late Majesty, especially after Dinner; and is also good for the Head: Shooting in a long Bow for the Breast and Arms; and helps Squinting: Bowling for the Reins, Stone, Gravel, &c.
Nor are the several other Games commonly practised, less Commendable, were they used with a modest and prudent Care: I recomend them as useful as the other, were a right use made of them. I would not have them made a Trade, instead of a Divertisement. But especially those that are managed by Skill, and not Fortune, may be Learned, for these acquaint a man with Numbring, and quicken the Fancy and Memory, and recreate the Mind.
And as Recreation is thus natural and necessary, so is it Commendable too, and recommended by the Practises of all Ages; as well sacred as prophane Histories plainly testifying the Truth of it. But I shall not trouble you any longer by detaining you at the Door, and enumerating the various Examples, which may Authorize a vertuous Use of Recreations, and apologize for this Work: The severest Stoick being never so cruel to himself or Nature, as not to give his mind some Relaxation, and recreate it in some more pleasant Pathes, than the miry heavy wayes of his own sullen and wilful Resolutions. Nor do our Modern Stoicks, tho of the strictest Lives, deny themselves some Mental, if not bodily Recreations; altho perhaps Infirmity, Age, Station, Degree, may render their Divertisements the more private, yet not totally denyed. Solomon had his Ittan for Recreations, as Josephus informes us, and the Heathen Sages their Olympiques, wherein were exercised, Wrestling, Running with Horses, Leaping, Coursing with Chariots, Contention of Poets, Rhetoricians, Disputations of Phylosophers, &c.
And because Velle suum cuique, every Mans Nature claimes a special Prerogative, in the electing a Recreation Suitable to it self, one thing being very pleasing and delightful to one, and offensive and troublesome to another, I have therefore like the industrious Bee gathered Honey from various Flowers, and according to your Palate taste and Eat; I have carefully Delineated and drawn to the Life the divers Figures of the several Recreations, and leave you to admire that Peice you fancy best; intreating you to put them to the best Use, not to make them your Trade instead of Recreation; in which sence I would have you to accept this: And now you may walk in and view the Structure.
H (Hunting)unting, being a Recreation that challenges the sublime Epithets of Royal, Artificial, Manly, and Warlike, for its Stateliness, Cunning, and Indurance, claims above all other Sports the Precedency; and therefore I was induced to place it at the Head to usher in the rest; and of which take this concise Definition, viz. That since Nature has equally imparted unto every Beast a wonderful Knowledge of Offence and Security, herein we may observe, The curious Search and Conquest of one Creature over another, hurried on by an innate natural Antipathy, and performed or wrought by a Distinction of Smells.
And now to come to the Purpose, and the Design of this Tract, briefly to inform the young Hunter, as yet raw in the true Knowledge of this Royal Sport, with what is meerly necessary and useful, without amusing him with superfluous Observations for his Instruction: I shall therefore observe throughout this Treatise this Method: 1. The several Chases or Games which fall under the first Denomination, Hunting. 2. The genuine or infallible Rules whereby we are to direct our selves, for the obtaining the true Pleasure in prosecuting the same, and the desired Effects of it.
Know then; There are five Beasts of Venery or Forest, viz. The Hart, Hinde, Hare, Boar, Wolf.
As likewise five Wild Beasts, or Beasts of Chace, viz. The Buck, Doe, Fox, Martern, Roe.
The Beasts of Warren, are three, viz. Hares, Coneys, Roes.
Note, The Hart and Hinde before spoken of, though they are of one kind, yet, because their Seasons are several, are esteemed distinct Beasts; and in the Hart is included the Stag, and all red Deer of Antlier.
And because I reckon it the most necessary part of the Hunter to understand the Names, Degrees, Ages, and Seasons of the aforesaid different Beasts of Forest or Venery, Chace, and Warren; I shall therefore, in the next place, present him with these following