CHAPTER III 



THE MASTER continued 



HE great Masters of an- 

 tiquity, if we may so call 

 them Meynell, Beck- 

 ford, Corbet, Lee An- 

 thone, John Warde, 

 Ralph Lambton, and 

 so on have been de- 

 scribed as paragons of 

 politeness as well as 

 models of keenness. We 

 doubt not they were, 

 but we have as good 

 gentlemen now-a-days, 



though the Grandison style is somewhat relaxed. 

 The fact is, a man won't do for a Master of Hounds 

 unless he is a gentleman. Wealth, birth, keenness, all 

 combined, won't do unless he has that indescribable 

 quality which may be best defined as a sincere desire 

 to please, with a nervous dread of saying or doing 

 anything that may hurt the feelings of another. Some 

 men may go blundering and bullying on to be sure, 

 by mere dint of purse, but it is a weary up-hill game, 

 generally wearing them out at last, as it has worn out 

 their followers. 



We cannot help thinking that one of the mistakes 

 of the day is that of making too much of a busi- 

 ness of hunting. Hence we have nervous, irritable 

 Masters, who are a nuisance to themselves and to 

 21 



