LORD EVERGREEN 229 



it all cut and dried to our hands at Badminton. 

 Take a lawn meet there. What could give a foreigner 

 a finer idea of the vast magnificence of an English 

 nobleman's establishment than what he would see 

 at that fine old place. The splendid hounds, the 

 magnificent horses, the countless servants, the bounti- 

 ful hospitality within and without ; above all, the open- 

 hearted, unaffected cordiality of the noble owner. 

 Still hound-keeping for sheer political purposes would 

 not answer. It is only when the owner is a sports- 

 man, that "the fellow-feeling makes us wondrous 

 kind," principle tells upon his companions in chase. 

 Keeping hounds, in the hopes of influencing votes, 

 would be a poor speculation. It would be attempt- 

 ing bribery upon men who are not open to corruption. 

 Your small voters don't " unt ; " nothing under a 

 master sweep. Indeed, it is no small recommendation 

 to the chase, that it is so little capable of perversion 

 to other than legitimate purposes. 



A nobleman's influence, however, must always be 

 great in his own locality. There is the influence of 

 wealth and station, almost always blended with the 

 influence of private worth. Common people may 

 not be great judges of etiquette or accomplishments, 

 but they are all judges of the homely qualities of 

 which they themselves partake. A bad husband, a 

 harsh master, an unpunctual payer, are qualities that 

 adapt themselves to all stations of life ; indeed, we 

 believe the lower we look in society, the more great 

 people are respected for what they are than for what 

 they have. The influence of intercourse is also 

 considerable. The nobleman occupies much the 

 same place in the country that royalty occupies in 

 London. People all like to be asked to the Palace. 

 An occasional dinner keeps all things straight in the 

 country — Venison's very convincing. 



And here let us take a glance at a most popular 

 sport that somehow or other has never been treated 



