person can claim any property, belong, by his or her prerogative, to the
king or queen. Accordingly, those animals, those _ferae naturae_, which
come under the denomination of game, are, in our laws, styled his or her
majesty's, and may therefore, as a matter of course, be granted by the
sovereign to another; in consequence of which another may prescribe to
possess the same within a certain precinct or lordship. From this
circumstance arose the right of lords of manors or others to the game
within their respective liberties; and to protect these species of
animals, the game laws were originated, and still remain in force. There
are innumerable acts of parliament inflicting penalties on persons who
may illegally kill game, and some of them are very severe; but they
cannot be said to answer their end, nor can it be expected that they
ever will, whilst there are so many persons of great wealth who have not
otherwise the means of procuring game, except by purchase, and who will
have it. These must necessarily encourage poaching, which, to a very
large extent, must continue to render all game laws nugatory as to their
intended effects upon the rustic population.