CHANGES IN FOX-HUNTING 343 



mentioned by the writer I have quoted — a private pack 

 once maintained by the Duke of Grafton, but since 

 1895 a subscription one ; lowest subscription, £35 per 

 annum, payable in advance. We may be sure that 

 this sum was not fixed without due deliberation ; nor, 

 when one considers the great reputation of the pack 

 and of the country, does the amount appear excessive. 

 In countries where second horses are essential, if we 

 would see a day's sport fairly out, we must possess 

 the sinews of war, and pay for our game pretty 

 heavily. Every one understands that, but many are 

 only beginning to realise that they have now got to 

 pay for something beside their horses and the expenses 

 of the stable. It was all very well once on a day — 

 say, when Sir Richard Sutton ruled in Quorndon — for 

 the flying sportsman to send his string up to Melton, 

 " to stand at the sign of the ' 'And in Pocket,' " as 

 the groom in Market Harborough expressed it ; and 

 nothing more was expected. But, though there are 

 said to be many more millionaires in the land nowa- 

 days than when Sir Richard flourished, somehow or 

 other we hear of none who are willing to spend £10,000 

 per annum on hunting a country at their own expense. 

 South African gold dust may be freely sprinkled on 

 the Turf. Not very much of it is bestowed on the 

 hunting-field for the benefit of others. 



It has come to pass, then, that all who hunt in the 

 English Midlands are given to understand that they 

 have to pay for the maintenance of the Hunt, and what 

 that means the secretary's accounts will no doubt 

 explain. The subscription is fixed at the minimum 

 reconcilable with the expenses of maintenance, and the 



