FOX-HUNTING AND MELTON 15 



imagine this was the moment at which the latter 

 first began to assert themselves. Doubtless 

 previous to this date the master had been an 

 autocrat in the matters of fixing hunting days, 

 whether or not it suited the men over whose land 

 he hunted. 



The argument Is sound, that from a hunting 

 point of view a country is no good without a pack 

 of hounds, but then it is equally true that a pack is 

 no use without a country. It must always be a 

 joint-stock arrangement, and though a master pays 

 all expenses, he must not imagine he is thereby 

 entitled to act in a way that is not conducive to the 

 interests of his field. The master for the time 

 being is the head of the hunting community, but 

 when he shows himself incapable of conducting the 

 hunt properly, or does it only in his own interests, 

 he should then be made to abdicate the throne. 

 In those few instances where the master is the 

 principal landlord, and where the same family 

 have kept the hounds for generations, the case is 

 different ; but even then the autocrat should con- 

 sider the wishes of those whom circumstance has 

 compelled to live within the limits of his territory. 



The increasing popularity of fox-hunting has 

 created a demand for more packs, and therefore 

 more countries, with the result that there has occa- 

 sionally been some friction when an old-established 

 pack has been made to give up ground over which 

 they claimed the right to hunt. There is no excuse 

 for an individual starting hounds in another's 

 country, even if he is a large owner of the soil ; but 

 if the existing pack cannot or do not hunt a district 

 fairly, the residents should represent the case to the 



