412 HUNTING. 



Lambtons, the Farquharsons, the Assheton Smiths, 

 the Villebois and Osbaldestons — are fast disap- 

 pearing, in all probability never to be renewed. 

 True that it is a fine, a proud sight, to see an 

 English country gentleman spending his income on 

 his native soil, and affording happiness and amuse- 

 ment to his neighbours, receiving their respect and 

 esteem in return ; but we cannot help feeling, that 

 unless a man has one of those overwhelming incomes 

 that are more frequently read of than enjoyed, it 

 is hardly fair that the expenses of a sport which 

 affords health and recreation to hundreds should 

 fall upon his individual shoulders. Heirs at law 

 will not be hindered by the remoteness of relation- 

 ship from impugning the conduct of their ancestors ; 

 nor will it be any consolation to a son, on coming 

 into possession of an overburdened estate, to know- 

 that the difficulties which oppress him were incur- 

 red for the purpose of keeping a pack of fox-hounds, 

 by which his father afforded amusement to the 

 country." It may here be not unappropriately 

 added, that at the time the above was written 

 (February 1884,) three of the best hunting coun- 

 tries in England were vacant, viz., the Quorndon 

 in Leicestershire, the Pytchley in Northampton- 

 shire, and the Oakley in Bedfordshire. 



Fox-hunting is a sort of prescriptive right, which 

 England has claimed from a very early period ; 

 and, more than this, it has long been considered 

 that the common law allowed persons to enter the 

 lands of another in pursuit of a fox, the destruction 

 of which was presumed to be a public benefit. This 



