THE EIGHTH DUKE 



enabled the Duke to write those few but golden 

 pages of advice, that are to be found in the Bad- 

 minton library treatise on hunting. I would only 

 add one word to them for the benefit of those 

 men who may have to handle a scratch pack 

 of drafts in a foreign land. Hounds that do not 

 belong to one pack, or to one family, will not work 

 together and trust one another, as do those of 

 an old-established pack. Consequently they will 

 need more help from the huntsman, than the Duke 

 found it necessary or desirable to give. With a 

 scratch pack, such as one gets in India for example, 

 the huntsman should be prompt and decisive in his 

 casts, always ready to help his hounds, though 

 never in a hurry. 



From the story the Duke has given in his diaries, 

 and the precepts he has laid down elsewhere, he 

 should rank high as a huntsman. On the whole, 

 perhaps, he has hardly had the credit to which he 

 is entitled. The first two seasons he carried the 

 horn, he showed good sport in spite of difficulties, 

 and if it was not so good the last year, the reason 

 may be found in the fact that it was a bad scenting 

 season, and he had much to distract him from the 

 business of the hounds and the field. Racing and 

 politics divided the Duke's attention, and he was 

 ever alive to the claims of his increasing family. In 

 May, 1856, came the birth of his only daughter, 

 which was a source of great joy to the Duke. 

 After a day's hunting we find the reason given for 



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