316 MANAGEMENT OF HOUNDS. 



many of the provincial countries, where the establishment 

 is dependent upon subscriptions raised by the neighbour- 

 ing gentry, the fifties and five-and-twen ties must dwindle 

 down to half that amount ; and there is a good cause for 

 it, when landlords are called upon to lower their rents 

 ten, twenty, and thirty per cent. 



We are told by Free Traders that everything is cheaper. 

 It may be to the fundholder and money maker, but the 

 landlord and farmer still pay dearer than ever. He buys 

 his cloth cheaper, but he loses in the price of wool. Cheap 

 bread is no very great advantage, when he loses ten 

 shillings on his sack of wheat, and so on in proportion. 

 He may buy, it is true, a smart-looking silk hat for l^s. 

 or 14s., where he used to give 25s, for a beaver ; but 

 there is no economy in this, as one good beaver would 

 wear out half a dozen of these flimsy concerns. So, to 

 meet the times, fewer servants must be kept, a less 

 number of horses, and, if they cannot let their land, the 

 squires must farm themselves, make their own bread and 

 cheese, kill their own mutton, substitute strong beer 

 after dinner for port wine, and cherry brandy for maras- 

 chino. Those who can club together to have a little 

 amusement in the dead months must keep a few couples 

 of hounds each, the pack being assembled on hunting 

 mornings by sound of horn, as in the olden time, and the 

 old earthstopper on his pony re-established to do the 

 work of the hunt. To this pass that things will soon 

 come in the corn-growing districts is my humble opinion. 

 I hope I may be deceived. 



Harriers, perhaps, will then be more in the ascendant, 

 as the Game-laws will go next, and hares become just 

 plentiful enough for this pastime only. Foxhounds are 



