THE COMMON FO'V^TL. 45 



improve the whiteness and delicacy of their 

 flesh, fowls and capons were fed in the dark 

 upon meal, for the gratification of the palate 

 of the epicure. A "barn-door chuckle," we 

 think, would have been ten times more pre- 

 ferable ; however, on the score of fattening 

 and cramming, and torturing poultry, neither 

 we of England, nor our neighbours of France, 

 have a syllable to utter against the ancient 

 Romans. 



If in ancient Greece and Rome cock-fighting 

 were a favourite amusement, not less so has it 

 been in England. The practice was not im- 

 probably introduced into our island by the 

 Romans, when they established here their 

 language and their customs. Be this as it 

 may, it is only within this last few years that 

 this barbarous sport has become neglected, 

 and that the cockpits have been deserted. 

 Not that the cruel practice is quite obsolete, 

 for there are a few still who delight in the 

 mortal combat of the feathered champions, 

 and keep up the game breeds in their purity. 

 In India, China, Malacca, and the Greek 

 islands, this sport is carried on with the 

 utmost ardour. In Sumatra, indeed, it is 

 pursued with an excitement bordering upon 



