204 THE HUNTING FIELD 



repute. Every man dubs himself, or is dubbed, 

 " Esquire." One of the judges, in reply to an objection 

 of counsel, that a man had improperly described 

 himself an " Esquire," observed that it had been held 

 that ever}' man who was not a gentleman was entitled 

 to be called " Esquire ; " and a still older authority — 

 we believe the lamented Mr. Thurtell, or one of his 

 confederates — propounded the doctrine that keeping 

 a gig and horse was proof of a man being a gentleman. 

 In spite, however, of all its misapplications — in spite 

 of all the jibes and jeers levelled at the class, there is 

 still something about the title " Esquire," or " Squire," 

 peculiarly grateful to Englishmen, and peculiarly ex- 

 pressive of the tranquil simplicity of country life. 

 Strictly speaking, we believe the title of Esquire is 

 the prerogative of parties named in her Majesty's 

 commission of the peace, of members of certain pro- 

 fessions and callings, but there is no doubt that its 

 real working identity is the lord of the soil, the 

 country resident — the country justice, if you wdll, but 

 the follower of field sports, at all events. This is the 

 sort of being that the title "Esquire" suggests to the 

 minds of Englishmen, and this is the sort of " Squire " 

 that the countr}' people look up to as the highest 

 authority within the scope of their imaginations. And 

 rightly, we believe, they do so look up, for a well 

 educated right thinking gentleman is an acquisition in 

 a district, and are best appreciated, as we said before, 

 by those who have witnessed their want or removal. 

 We may even go further, and say, that counties well 

 supplied with resident gentry exhibit a much smaller 

 amount of crime than counties where they are scarce. 

 All statesmen are aware of this, and it has always 

 been an object with Governments to afford, by the 

 encouragement and protection of country sports, 

 every inducement to landowners to live on their 

 estates. 



We consider the maintenance of field sports of 



