90 SPORTS AND ANECDOTES. 



the world seems to be turned upside down ; whether 

 :t will ever right itself is a thing to be seen, but 

 being round, it may do so in time. They do say 

 " A good time is coming, boys," but it seems to be 

 somewhat long on the road, and it would appear 

 somewhat odd if the very Liberal measure of trapping 

 and persecuting hares and rabbits, to the annoyance 

 of most country gentlemen and landlords, whose 

 sport ought to be encouraged instead of condemned, 

 will not in the long run materially interfere with, if 

 not greatly spoil, that most noble of all sports, fox- 

 hunting, and which is at present the pride of England 

 and its aristocracy. There have, no doubt, always 

 been a certain number of foxes that have met with 

 little accidents, but from the care that has, as a 

 general rule, been taken of them, comparatively few, 

 I am happy to think, have come to grief through the 

 negligence or wilful acts of gentlemen's keepers. 

 More, I feel sure, have suffered from the practice 

 of setting traps for rats round corn-stacks and on 

 lands where there have been no keepers, and from 

 farm-servants trapping for hares and rabbits in their 

 runs, than from any other cause. Now that the 

 absurd Ground Game Act has become law, I much 

 fear that many gamekeepers will feel less pride and 



