THE GAME LAWS. 13 



which must, from the modern practice of the law, be 

 attended with a much heavier expense. 



But selecting men of loose character for game- 

 keepers, as well as paying them very low wages, de- 

 feats, generally speaking, the very purpose it was 

 meant to promote. The first is done on the princi- 

 ple of setting one thief to catch another; yet it some- 

 times happens that an understanding takes place 

 between the gamekeeper and poacher ; the manor is 

 thus securely plundered, and the spoil divided be- 

 tween the parties. On the contrary, I will suppose 

 the keeper to be an honest man (and there are, per- 

 haps, many of this description) ; if he is a single 

 man, it is possible he may barely support himself on 

 his wages ; if, however, as it frequently happens, he 

 has a wife and a number of children, can he support 

 them on SOL per year ? which is very high wages 

 indeed for a gamekeeper. The fact is, the man 

 cannot see his family starve, and he is consequently 

 driven to obtain further pecuniary resources from the 

 sale of game: thus the stage-coaches procure a re- 

 gular supply of game, which finds its way securely to 

 the poulterers' shops, or to the houses of private indi- 

 viduals. I do not mean to say that keepers engross 

 the whole supply of the game-market; the regular 

 and professed poacher comes in for his share; and 

 by these means an abundance is obtained which 

 would astonish those in particular who resort to such 

 strict and even illegal means for the preservation of 

 game. There are receiving-houses in almost every 



