THE GAME LAWS. 



to destroy game, not being qualified. Mr. Eyre excepted, that 

 it was not shewn he made use of the dog to destroy game ; and 

 it may be only kept for a gentleman who was qualified, it being 

 common to put dogs out in that manner. By the court, the 

 statute is in the disjunctive, keep or use ; so that the bare keep- 

 ing a lurcher is an offence ; and so it was determined in the case 

 of King v. King, which was a conviction for keeping a gun ; 

 and it was not doubted by the court, whether the keeping was 

 not enough to be shown ; but the only question they made was, 

 whether a gun was such an engine as is within the statute ; and 

 in that case a difference was taken as to keeping a dog, which 

 could only be to destroy game, and the keeping a gun, which a 

 man might do for the defence of his house. The conviction 

 was confirmed. 



This decision was further confimed by the case of the King 

 v* Hartley, E. 22 Geo. III. in which Lord Mansfield said 

 In this act there are two offences described, a keeping and a 

 using ; and the legislature means that there may be a keeping 

 to destroy, which is not of necessity to be proved by a using for 

 that purpose. If it were so, it would be tautologous ; for such 

 evidence would be a proving of the offence. The keeping there- 

 fore of a thing prohibited being an offence under the act, it is 

 necessarily pnma jade evidence of a keeping for the purpose 

 prohibited; and it is incumbent on the defendant to shew that 

 it was kept for another purpose; as, in the present case, that 

 it is a house-dog, a favourite dog, or a particular species of grey- 

 hound. Caldecott's cases, 175. 



Respecting the form of the conviction, it has been holden, 

 that if it be only alleged that the defendant had not, at the time 

 of the commission of the offence, any lands or tenements, or any 

 other estate of inheritance of the clear yearly value of 100/. or 

 for term of life, &c. nor was in any other manner qualified, em- 

 powered, licensed, or authorised by the laws of this realm, either 



