is to be taken on lease near Paris; its extent is about
six thousand acres, partly arable, and partly forest ground. The plan is,
to open it to subscribers during six months--viz. from September 1 to
March 1, an ample stock of game being secured in preserves.

Why were parks and inclosures usually attached to priories?

Because they were receptacles of game for the clergy of rank, who at all
times had the privilege of hunting in their own possessions. At the time
of the Reformation, the see of Norwich only was in the possession of no
less than thirteen parks, well stocked with deer and other animals for the
chase.--_Spelman._

The eagerness of the clergy for hunting is described as irrepressible.
Prohibitions of councils produced little effect. In some instances a
particular monastery obtained a dispensation. Thus, that of St. Denis, in
774, represented to Charlemagne that the flesh of hunted animals was
salutary for sick monks, and that their skins would serve to bind books in
the library. Alexander III., by a letter to the clergy of Berkshire,
dispenses with their keeping the archdeacon in dogs and hawks during his
visitation.--_Rymer._ An archbishop of York, in 1321, carried a train of
two hundred persons, who were maintained at the expense of the abbeys on
his road, and who hunted with a pack of hounds from parish to
parish!--_Whitaker's Hist. of Craven_, quoted in _Hallam's Hist. Middle
Ages_.

Why was hunting formerly a very convenient resource for the wholesomeness,
as well as luxury, of the table?

Because the natural pastures being then unimproved, and few kinds of
fodder for cattle discovered, it was impossible to maintain the summer
stock during the cold season. Hence a portion of it was regularly
slaughtered and salted for winter provision. We may suppose, therefore,
that when no alternative was offered but these salt meats, even the
leanest venison was devoured with relish.--_Hallam's Hist. Middle Ages._

Why were all the great forests pierced by those long rectilinear alleys
which appear in old prints, and are mentioned in old books?

Because the avenues were particularly necessary for those large parties,
resembling our modern _battues_, where the honoured guests being stationed
in fit _standings_, had an opportunity of displaying their skill in venery
by selecting the buck which was in season, and their dexterity at bringing
him down with the cross-bow or long-bow.

Why should a deer-park exhibi