1898] HUNT MEETING. 247 



Hon. F. L. Wood, Sir Francis Burdett, Sir Peter Walker, 

 Colonel Milligan, Mr. A. C. Duncombe, Mr. Chandos-Pole, 

 Mr. Hamar Bass, Mr. Richard Fort, Hon. W. Coke, Mr. 

 Walter Boden, Mr. Lionel Gisborne, Mr. Charrington, Mr. 

 E. A. J. Maynard, Mr. C. A. Wallroth, and many others. 

 The Chairman called upon Mr. Bass to make a statement 

 if he desired to do so. 



"Mr. Bass was warmly applauded, and said circum- 

 stances to-day were wholly different to what they were a 

 year ago, when he was induced to reconsider his decision 

 to resign. He could only inform those friends of his who 

 had asked him to reconsider his present decision that he 

 was most sincerely desirous of resigning the unpleasant 

 position he now occupied. It would be within their 

 recollection that at the last general meeting an attempt 

 was made to oust him from his position as Master of their 

 Hunt. (No, no.) He had thus been Master for ten years. 

 There had been repeated opportunities for his opponents to 

 explain the grounds of their opposition to him, but no 

 word of complaint was ever uttered. Of course, he had 

 been made aware that there was a great deal of grumbling 

 going on in the Hunt, in fact, one of his informants was 

 Mr. Fort, who told him of the widespread dissatisfaction 

 existing among the subscribers. Well, these gentlemen, 

 who were opposed to him, had always been friendly to his 

 face, and he was much surprised to learn they had been 

 plotting against him behind his back. (No, no. — Shame.) 

 He did not think that that was a very straightforward 

 way of doing business. He had now been Master for ten 

 years, and he did not think there was any man in that 

 room who would treat the humblest of his servants in the 

 way in which he had been treated by this section, viz. 

 dismiss him without a word of warning, and without a 

 syllable of complaint being breathed against him. Harking 

 back to the meeting at which the resignation of the 

 Deputy-Master was to be considered, he might inform the 

 meeting that the following resolution was passed : ' that 

 in consequence of no satisfactory Deputy-Master being 



