第32章

ThesewerethemainActsforpunishingpoachersthatwerepassedduring

thelastphaseoftheancientré；gime。Howlargeaparttheyplayed

inEnglishlifemaybeimaginedfromafactmentionedbythedukeofRichmond

in1831。(41*)Inthethreeyearsbetween1827and1830oneinsevenofall

thecriminalconvictionsinthecountrywereconvictionsundertheGameCode。

Thenumberofpersonssoconvictedwas8502，manyofthembeingundereighteen。

Someofthemhadbeentransportedforlife，andsomeforsevenorfourteen

years。Insomeyearstheproportionwasstillhigher。(42*)Wemustremember，

too，whatkindofjudgeshadtriedmanyofthesemenandboys。’Thereis

notaworse-constitutedtribunalonthefaceoftheearth，’saidBrougham

in1828，’noteventhatoftheTurkishCadi，thanthatatwhichsummaryconvictions

ontheGameLawsconstantlytakeplace；Imeanabenchorabraceofsporting

justices。Iamfarfromsayingthat，onsuchsubjects，theyareactuated

bycorruptmotives；buttheyareundoubtedlyinstigatedbytheirabhorrence

ofthatcaputlupinum，thathostishumanigeneris，asanHonourableFriend

ofmineoncecalledhiminhisplace，thatferanaturae——apoacher。From

theirdecisionsonthosepoints，wheretheirpassionsarethemostlikely

tomisleadthem，noappealinrealityliestoamorecalmandunprejudiced

tribunal；for，unlesstheysetoutanymatterillegalonthefaceofthe

conviction，youremovetherecordinvain。’(43*)

Thecloserelationofthisgreatincreaseofcrimetothegeneraldistress

wasuniversallyrecognised。CobbetttellsusthatagentlemaninSurreyasked

ayoungman，whowascrackingstonesontheroadside，howhecouldliveupon

halfacrownaweek。’Idon’tliveuponit，’saidhe。’Howdoyoulivethen？’

’Why，’saidhe，’Ipoach：itisbettertobehangedthantobestarvedto

death。’(44*)Thisstoryreceivesillustrationafterillustrationintheevidence

takenbyParliamentaryCommittees。ThevisitingJusticesofthePrisonsin

Bedfordshirereportedin1827thatthegreatincreaseincommitments，and

particularlythenumberofcommitmentsforoffencesagainsttheGameLaws，

calledforaninquiry。Morethanathirdofthecommitmentsduringthelast

quarterhadbeenforsuchoffences。TheReportcontinues：——

’Inmanyparishesinthiscountythewagesgiventoyoungunmarriedagricultural

labourers，inthefullstrengthandvigouroflife，seldomexceed3s。or

3s。6d。aweek，paidtothem，generally，underthedescriptionofroundsmen，

bytheoverseersoutofthepoorrates；andoftenintheimmediatevicinity

ofthedwellingsofsuchhalf-starvedlabourersthereareabundantly-stocked

preservesofgame，inwhich，duringasinglenight，thesedissatisfiedyoung

mencanobtainarichbootybysnaringharesandtakingorkillingpheasants……

offenceswhichtheycannotbebroughttoacknowledgetobeanyviolation

ofprivateproperty。Detectiongenerallyleadstotheirimprisonment，and

imprisonmentintroducestheseyouthstofamiliaritywithcriminalsofother

descriptions，andthustheybecomerapidlyabandonedtounlawfulpursuits

andalifeofcrime。’(45*)Mr。Orridge，GovernoroftheGaolofBurySt。

Edmunds，gavetotheCommitteeonCommitmentsandConvictions(46*)thefollowing

figuresofprisonerscommittedtotheHouseofCorrectionforcertainyears：

Hestatedthatthegreatincreaseinthenumberofcommitmentsbeganin

theyear1815withthedepressionofagricultureandthegreatdearthof

employment：thatmenwereemployedontheroadsatverylowrates：thatthe

commitmentsundertheGameLawswhichin1810werefive，in1811four，and

in1812two，wereseventy-fivein1822，ayearofgreatagriculturaldistress，

sixtyin1823，sixty-onein1824，andseventy-onein1825。Somemenwere

poachersfromtheloveofsport，butthemajorityfromdistress。Mr。Pym，

amagistrateinCambridgeshire，andSirThomasBaring，amagistrateforHampshire，

gavesimilarevidenceastothecauseoftheincreaseofcrime，andparticularly

ofpoaching，inthesecounties。Mr。Bishop，aBowStreetofficer，whosebusiness

itwastomixwiththepoachersinpublic-housesandlearnt

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