A POEM. 43 



Of just complaint ; th' authorized sale of game, 

 More than the extra poachers, we must blame : 

 Without receiving depots, fewer thieves 

 Would on us fatten, ev'ry one believes. 

 Not that I mean to say, that formerly 

 The country ever was from poachers free ; 

 But that a sale so certain, urges many 

 To treat contemptibly the honest penny ; 

 And those who, ten years back, had only taken 

 Occasionally game to save their bacon, 

 And had not night by night their springes laid, 

 Now the sale's certain, follow up the trade. 

 Except in large preserves, live game will be, 

 In half a century, quite a rarity. 

 While I'm this subject on, 'tis right to mention, 

 These hated laws require your close inspection ; 

 They're now so plain, none surely can mistake 

 Their sev'ral bearings, or at any rate, 

 No Gentleman e'er knowingly would break 

 Their chief enactments which I'll briefly state. 



