amazing increase which generally attends the protected rabbits; yet, strange as it may appear, I feel a degree of repugnance at the idea of slaughtering these beautiful little creatures for my own table,

though I have very different feelings when picking the bones of a chicken bred and reared on my premises.

I am Sir, your constant reader,
A SPORTSMAN.

WELL, Mr Editor, in spite

of Burkers, Cholera, and the various ills that flesh is heir to, I am again in London on my annual voyage of discovery, which generally lasts about six weeks, affording me ample opportunity of seeing all that is worth seeing in the mighty Babel, and be heartily sick of it in the bargain. I am a lover of Nature and pure air, and therefore I live in the country; but I am also a lover of the noble horse, and nowhere can such fine specimens of that animal be seen as in London: so "Hither I come, I come from my pleasant home,

And if there's a good horse, a good horse

in London town,

I swear, I swear, on the word of a Hunter

as that of the Game Act; for I

ain an enthusiastic lover of the gun; indeed, it is, of all the pleasures of my youth, the only one which has survived in all its freshness-the only one which has not lost its zest by frequent repetition. I still feel the same delight on the approach of the sporting season as I did when at the sanguine age of twenty-one, and find sufficient occupation for my solitary hours in the nameless preparations which its approach gives rise to. Can I then read this new Game Act, so calculated to deprive me of this last pleasure, with anything like patience? I have seen too much of the world to be surprised or pained at many things; but here I confess, like Achilles, I am vulnerable. Now, this subject, I am aware has been sensibly and cleverly discussed already in your entertaining Magazine; nevertheless, as I am an old acquaintance, I will claim the privilege of such acquaintance; and as this morning, though in the month of June, is cold, wet, and windy, and nothing to be seen in the streets but amphibious fish-women bawling stinking mackarel, I will take the liberty of scrawling a few of Bill. It is a much easier thing, my thoughts on this said Game I am aware, to write a critique than to write a book;

much easier to blame another person's performance than to perform one's self. The finest piece of eloquence ever breathed from the lips of man may be turned into burlesque, or extolled into sublimity, at the pleasure of him who thinks himself a critic. Knowing this, I shall deal gently with the subject in hand; not vainly supposing I am wiser than my betters, but on the principle of a looker-on seeing more of the game than the parties concerned. I have calmly and dispassionately considered the subject; and, though I am convinced those who framed this law did it for the best, and thought it good, I have no hesitation in saying it is a complete failure. One would think, indeed, it was enacted for the especial protection and benefit of the poachers, for I see no other fruits likely to arise from it; and I have no doubt they laugh heartily at the triumph they have gained over the sportsman.

I believe I may say, ever since this country was a country, sporting in various ways, according to the means and ideas of its possessors, has been known and practised. At the Conquest, amongst other salutary laws introduced, was one for the protection of game; but better, perhaps, had it been for the peace of the world had it never been thought of; for, from that time to this, there has been nothing but discord and vexation; the Bill for ever undergoing repairs, and each time returning from the hands of the menders in a more dilapidated

state than when it went.

Let us first of all consider shooting abstractedly-not as a mere amusement, but (as everything is estimated according to

the price it will fetch or the good it will produce) for the benefits arising from it. In the first place, then, shooting makes the country endurable to many a man who but for it would never be seen on his estate; it makes a rural life delightful in the almost constant occupation it affords; and disperses money into a thousand channels (thereby giving bread to thousands), which otherwise, perhaps, would be lost at the gaming-table, enriching a parcel of wretches who deserve nothing but a halter. Secondly, it gives birth to friendships between man and man that cease but with existence. It is a bad thing for society when people grow independent of each other: man was not made to live alone, but to aid and assist, to comfort and support his fellow. The chain which binds us together is admirably and delicately formed, and easily broken: take away shooting, and, insignificant as it may appear to those who have no other idea of game than that of eating it, many links of that chain will drop.

I am a great advocate for the strict preservation of game, feeling the prosperity of the country depends greatly on it. Sporting in many cases is the sole tie that binds men to this our island home, and but for which they would desert it for the bright skies and enchanting scenes of beautiful Italy. What, I ask, would be the consequence of such desertion? What makes a country powerful and a peasantry flourishing? Its Nobles' presence, diffusing their wealth on the bosom whence they drew it. What causes its decay? Their absence.-Look at Ireland, read her history, read the crimes

perpetrated by her sons; trace them to their origin, and you will find the cause of all to be absenteeism-that curse to a country, and one, if shooting is not encouraged, which will assuredly prove the destruction of poor England. Again, consider how many families are supported in comfort and comparative affluence by the manufacture of the gun; look at the numbers of workmen employed by first-rate gunsmiths, who are enabled by their weekly earnings to keep their families respectably without any other help; and consider, when game is defunct, what is to become of them? Why, thousands of starving wretches, unable to get a livelihood in any way-who "cannot dig, and are ashamed to beg"-will be thrown upon a country already groaning under the weight of poor's-rates and taxes. It is frightful to think of the misery such an event would produce. It follows, therefore, as game has been recognised by the laws of the land as specific property, vested in certain individuals whether wise, liberal, or just, it is not for me to determine-every precaution should be used to avert this dreaded evil; every protection afforded such property. If the annihilation of a set of worthless and depraved characters be desirable to a country, it becomes the bounden duty of its rulers to frame such a law, as, without injury to that most respectable body of men, the yeomanry (who naturally feel aggrieved at such feudal rights being exercised over lands cultivated by the sweat of their brow), shall at once exterminate those lawless characters, who brave every danger, and live with the

rope for ever dangling before their eyes, rather than conform to the rules of society, and work for an honest livelihood. This should be the end and aim of a Game Act, instead of unjustly bearing harder upon a body already taxed beyond endurance, and thus adding fuel to flame.

But let us look at the Bill in question, spreading over sheets of letter-press with its various clauses, and professing in its ramifications as much judicial protection as the far-famed Magna Charta; but, in reality, as tyrannical in its substance as that was glorious and liberal. To particularise the many sections would engross too much of your valuable work; but I must, for the sake of any who may not have seen this precious bit of law, give two clauses, from which they may judge for themselves whether it is likely to be beneficial or otherwise.

Clause VII.-Landlords' Rights.And be it enacted, That in all cases where any person shall occupy any land under any lease or agreement made previously to the passing of this Act, except in the cases hereinafter next excepted, the lessor or landlord shall have the right of entering upon such land, or of authorizing any obtained an annual game certificate to enother person or persons who shall have ter upon such land, for the purpose of killing or taking the Game thereon; and no person occupying any land under any lease or agreement, either for life or for years, made previously to the passing of this Act, shall have the right to kill or take the Game on such land, except where the right of killing the Game upon such land has been expressly granted or allowed to such person by such lease or agreement, or except where upon the original granting or renewal of such lease or agreement a fine or fines shall have been taken, or except where in the case of a term for years such lease or agreement shall have been made for a term exceeding twenty-one years.

Clause XII-Occupier liable to Penalty. And be it enacted, That where the right of killing the Game upon any land is by this Act given to any lessor or

landlord, in exclusion of the right of the occupier of such land, or where such exclusive right hath been or shall be specially reserved by or granted to, or doth or shall belong to, the lessor, landlord, or any person whatsoever other than the occupier of such land, then and in every such case, if the occupier of such land shall pursue, kill, or take any Game upon such land, or shall give permission to any other person so to do, without the autho rity of the lessor, landlord, or other person having the right of killing the Game upon such land, such occupier shall, on conviction thereof before two Justices of the peace, forfeit and pay for such pursuit such sum of money not exceeding two pounds, and for every head of Game so killed or taken such sum of money not exceeding one pound, as to the convicting Justices shall seem meet, together with

the costs of the conviction.

on

Now, I ever have, and still maintain, that the parties to whom these clauses refer (the Yeomanry) are the very ones whom the preservation of game depend: but to deny them the power of shooting over the very land they cultivate, to tie them down to the extreme bounds of the law, is not the way to ensure that protection, which, had they an interest in the thing, they would so willingly accord, and which would certainly be so very desirable. Allow the farmer to shoot; or, if he have no inclination that way, give him the privilege of occasionally asking a friend; of course, under certain restrictions. Should the tenant be a sportsman, he might in the early part of the season slay a few partridges or pheasants; but he soon finds the pleasures of the field are detrimental to the more important occupations of the farm; so that he would seldom claim his privilege. If permitted to ask a friend, the desire of shewing that friend good sport on the manor would be a sufficient stimulus to him to look out sharply for the preservation of the game.

He would make his people careful not to destroy the embryo brood, and closely watch the poacher, who, knowing there was a watch set on his actions in addition to his old enemy the keeper, would, of course, be slower in practising his evil deeds: nor would servants (as is too often the case at present) be sent out on the sly by their very masters to deal havoc on the game. Is it not the height of injustice for a man to be prevented sharing in the game which is nourished and protected on his own land, whilst a stranger, deputed by his landlord, marches over his grounds, breaks down fences, slaughters everything before him, and walks away, often without having the decency to present a feather to the occupier? That this is never the case with a gentleman sportsman I am aware; but there are others, besides gentlemen, able to pay for the right of shooting, and thus annoy a respectable farmer. Besides, there are many to whom shooting is a speculation instead of a sport, and to whom this new Game Bill is the most convenient thing in the world. Shame prevented gentlemen dealing openly in that way before, so it was managed with the assistance of an accommodating tailor or other tradesman; but now the law sanctions it, and poachers and gentlemen may both carry their game to market, and make the most of it.

I come now to the worst part of this most wise enactment-the sale of game; but as the clauses are long, and you have already given them in your Magazine, I forbear quoting them, and shall only make a few observations, merely remarking it was thought