lo THE OLD BERKS HUNT 



in the eighteenth century. There had been 

 an almost continuous rise of prices, and 

 therefore of rents, from the time of the dis- 

 covery of the treasures of the New World. 

 Country life was still of a simple nature. The 

 great rise of the manufacturing industries of 

 the country had not yet absorbed a large 

 proportion of the services of the working 

 classes ; so that wages had not advanced in 

 proportion to the general rise in prices. That 

 cruel burden, the " Estate Duty," had not been 

 imposed. A heavy income tax was raised, it 

 is true, on the rent of land in the form of 

 '• Land Tax " ; but it had not yet occurred 

 to legislators to argue that this was no tax 

 at all, for the reason that it had been imposed 

 for a long period, and that it must therefore 

 be supplemented by an " Income Tax." Thus 

 it came about that a larger proportion of the 

 incomes of the country gentlemen of those 

 days could be expended on the amusements 

 of the field. Private packs of hounds became 

 fairly numerous, though foxes were very 

 scarce, so that foxhunting was chiefly carried 

 on in the neighbourhood of great woodlands, 

 where alone foxes could be found ; and when 

 found, he was more of a wild animal and would 

 endure before hounds for a longer time than 

 the preserved fox of modern days. At the 



