THE MASTER 



29 



of the game as the actual player) and to be spoken to 

 by farmers and others on the occurrences which 

 commonly happen in the day's hunting; if things 

 go on well, and the sport is good, the Master of the 

 pack is no doubt the person most pleased, feeling 

 conscious that his exertions contribute much to the 

 amusement of the day; and there is certainly no 

 pleasure more gratifying to ourselves than that of 

 pleasing others. On the contrary, if everything 

 should go on untowardly, which will frequently 

 happen on a bad scenting day, he ought to be 

 mindful that the field likewise participates in his 

 disappointment." 



Now for the other qualifications we dotted down in 

 our first paper : 



The generalship of a Master consists in making the 

 most of a country, and the greatest use of his friends. 

 We don't mean to say he is to borrow money or horses 

 of them, but he should urge each individual to put 

 his shoulder stoutly to the wheel to promote the 

 general interest in his particular locality. Thompson's 

 woodman can make up a gap in a cover without 

 trouble or expense; but if the Master has to send a 

 man half-a-dozen or a dozen miles to do it, why 

 there's a day's work. Wise Masters, however, will 

 have nothing to do with covers. They will leave 

 them to the management of those whom Mr. Nichol 

 d d in the aggregate. 



Diplomacy, a genteel term for "humbugging," is 

 an essential requisite for a Master of Foxhounds. A 

 Master, like ^Esop's hare, has generally "many friends," 

 some of whom will advise him diametrically the 

 reverse on the same point. Is it not diplomacy to 

 make each believe you intend doing as he advises, 

 and yet have your own way after all ? The necessity 

 for a Master combining the liberality of a sailor with 

 his other qualifications, is sufficiently illustrated in 

 the following observation of Lord Petre, then Master 



