398 POSTSCRIPT. 



respect it would become impossible to defend all other branches of 

 the chase and many of our manly rural sports. If stag-hunting is 

 stopped there must be an end to fox, hare, and otter-hunting. 

 There would be no more coursing. Instead of shooting we must 

 stalk grouse, partridge, and pheasant with a pinch of salt, and, by 

 simply sprinkling it on the tail of the bird, thus " grass " it without 

 the aid of " \dllainous saltpetre." Hunters and hacks would soon 

 become extinct animals. The multifarious benefits which hunting 

 confers on the British farmer would cease ; and the enormous sum 

 of money now circulated at home on oui" national sports and 

 pastimes would be diverted into other channels, to the utter loss of 

 Her Majesty's liege subjects. When asked what alternative or 

 substitute he would apply in the event of hunting and shooting 

 being " utterly suppressed, abolished, and taken away," by Act of 

 Parliament, the faddist replied, " Lawn Tennis and Croquet ! " 

 Fancy Lawn Tennis and Croquet in a wintry southerly wind and 

 a cloudy sky, with the going fetlock-deep, and the players attired in 

 waterproof garments ! That answer is characteristic of the faddist, 

 as he must have been ignorant of the ruchments of his own alterna- 

 tive exercise ; nevertheless he has the audacity to bring unfounded 

 charges against the followers of the Royal Buckhounds, concerning 

 whom his theoretical and practical knowledge is absolutely nil ! 

 Fortunately the future of stag-hunting was never so promising as 

 at the present time. It is extending, obtaining new adherents, and 

 attracting votaries in every part of the civilised globe. And, even 

 if the Boyal Buckhounds were to be suppressed — as an adjunct 

 associated for successive centuries with the " honour and dignity " of 

 the Throne — to please the faddist, it is probable that atrabilarious 

 individual would not be satisfied until he suppressed every institution 

 of the State, and finally abrogated every institution of the Crown 

 and Constitution. 



Before concluding this Postscript, the compiler must openly confess 

 to a sin of omission for neglecting to carry on the annals of Ascot 

 Eaces down to the period when the Plates which had been run for 

 by the followers of the Pioyal Buckhounds and by the Hunt servants 

 dropped out of the programme. As we have seen, this truly national 

 race meeting was instituted in 1711, chiefly for the purpose of 

 celebrating these two Plates, in connection with the Pioyal Hunt, 

 as an exhibition of speed and stamina by the horses, and a display 

 of jockeyship by the ridei-s, who had been in the first flight, during 



