VARIETIES OF DOMESTIC FOWL. 61 



The earliest record of cock-fighting in England is in the 

 time of Fitzstephen , who wrote the life of Thomas a Becket, 

 in the reign of Henry II., about the year 1100. Since that 

 time, the history of English manners has been disgraced, until 

 a late date, by the recognition of cock-fighting as a national pas- 

 time. Hogarth has a plate representing a blood of the day 

 engaging in the diversion of the cock-pit ; and not a century 

 since, " the cock-pit" was a place as well known in London as 

 any other fashionable resort. In the family of the Earls of 

 Derby there has long been a renowned breed of game fowls, 

 and it has been an hereditary boast, that none of them have 

 ever " proved craven." Mowbray, one of the standard authors 

 on poultry, apologizes for the custom, though now it would be 

 difficult to find any to defend him. 



" Philanthropists," he says, " are in the habit of declaiming 

 much against the practice of cock-pit battles ; but, on reflection, 

 the cruelty of that sport will be found among the least, where- 

 in the feelings of animals are concerned, since fighting, in the 

 game cock, is a natural and irresistible passion, and can never 

 take place against his will ; and those that engage in regular 

 combat upon the arena would do so voluntarily, and with 

 equal ardor, did they meet in the desert." 



In this country, if this cruel practice ever obtained to any 

 extent, it must now be spoken of as among things that have 

 been. It is only in Mexico and the South American republics 

 that it is tolerated on this continent. 



In Mr. Richardson's opinion, in which every one will 

 concur, 



" The game fowl is one of the most gracefully-formed and 

 most beautifully-colored of our domestic breeds of poultry ; and 

 in its form, aspect, and that extraordinary courage which char- 

 acterizes its natural disposition, exhibits all that either the nat- 

 uralist or the sportsman would at once recognize as the beau 

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