34 THE HUNTING FIELD 



fifty twice ; but, if he give a hundred, he may halloo 

 all day long. 



Hunt subscriptions are as difficult to realise as the 

 assets of a bankrupt tommy shopkeeper. Unless 

 there is a huge nest egg to start with, it is weary up- 

 hill work trying to keep a pack of hounds by what 

 the hospital people call "voluntary contributions." 

 Voluntary contributions, forsooth ! We read in the 

 " Old Sporting Magazine," that, at a fashionable Spa, 

 a poor laundress had been mulct of her few shillings 

 towards the keep of what brought the white breeches 

 to her tub. This is not as it should be. Much as we 

 desire to uphold hunting, yet we must advocate its 

 support on proper gentlemanly principles. Better 

 knock-off a day a-week than resort to such means. If 

 such expedients are had recourse to, at idle, money- 

 spending watering-places, what can we expect from 

 the hard money-getting penury of the country. 



Some people may suppose that a Mastership of 

 Hounds is fulfilled with the mere home and field 

 management, but such is very far from being the case. 

 A Master of Hounds exercises no small influence on 

 the manners, w r e might almost say, the morals of a 

 country, as well by his own example as by the style 

 of people his management brings about him. Man- 

 kind are prone to imitation — young men, especially ; 

 and a Master of Hounds is of all others the most 

 likely for them to look up to. 



" He who excels in what we prize, 

 Appears a hero in our eyes." 



If the Master is what may be termed a show fox- 

 hunter — a dandified petit maitre — he will have every 

 chance of making the field the same, for many will be 

 glad to add what we may call the "impotence of 

 dress " to the general attractions of the red coat. If 

 the Master is a coarse, swearing, overbearing fellow, 

 his companions will be the same ; for there is no 



