[42] 



mind, will be all in vain, unless owners of co- 

 verts are determined in earnest to preserve 

 Foxes. The time is not so long gone 

 by, when it was thought even dishonourable 

 to destroy foxes if hounds hunted a coun- 

 try ; but we all know, from an unfortunate 

 exposure in a trial for trespass, that we 

 cannot legally claim any right to hunt. In 

 the present day, by courtesy alone, it is 

 sanctioned. 



The great mania for Game, and the use- 

 less quantity of it with which we find most 

 coverts glutted, is a great misfortune to 

 Fox-hunting. For some time (may I be 

 allowed to say) there has been a war be- 

 tween the Pheasant and the Fox ; during 

 which period (what may seem not a little 

 extraordinary, and I state it with regret) 

 the former has generally been victorious. 

 Still I am no enemy to shooting, particularly 

 to Partridge-shooting, because it is an ac- 

 tive amusement, and a healthy exercise, 



