BIOGRAPHIES IN A NUTSHELL 157 



So should it be with an M.F.H. Therefore I 

 venture to think that the Duke's system was right, 

 viz. breed hounds for the country over which they 

 are intended to hunt, irrespective of the dogmas laid 

 down by hound judges. His favourite relaxation 

 was fox-hunting, and he fully maintained the fox- 

 hunting traditions of Badminton during a crucial 

 period in the annals of the sport. Upon his suc- 

 cession to the title and estates, hunting was regarded 

 as a manorial right, which even the most advanced 

 Whigs did not dare to question. Before his death 

 the law and the public opinion of the country had 

 completely metamorphosed the relationships between 

 landlord and tenant. The Duke was a strong Tory, 

 with the courage to announce his convictions ; yet 

 such was his personal popularity as a landlord and 

 his tact as an M.F.H. that no friction ever arose 

 between him and the occupiers of the land. Finally, 

 it is a subject for congratulation in hunting circles 

 that there is no danger of the Beaufort prestige in 

 the world of sport dying out for want of support. 



