104 UNASKED ADVICE. 



a certain amount of philosopliy to gaze unmoved upon 

 the same^ remembering to console oneself witli tlie reflec- 

 tion tliat everything consumable fetches a better price in 

 a populous neighbourhood than in an empty one, and 

 that the damage and demand are caused by the same 

 institution. And here I may as well observe that the 

 damage done by foxhunters is not to any great extent 

 the act of those who ride to hounds. It is caused chiefly 

 by mufis_, townspeople, retired tradesmen, &c., who don't 

 know one crop from another, and who pull down a fence 

 instead of jumping it j and in the crack countries by the 

 second horsemen. These last really are mischievous in 

 the extreme : as to shutting a gate or keeping in a 

 furrow, unless for their own convenience, they would as 

 soon think of flying. And it is too much to expect of 

 anyone that he will put up with wilful damage. 



A great deal of sport is spoiled by the field. Where 

 the master is energetic and understands his work, he will 

 not allow the fox to he headed by hard riders — who 

 would, if permitted, in their extreme anxiety for a start, 

 creep on to the very spot where a good fox would go 

 from. In the same way he will not allow the covert to 

 be surrounded by people to whom a start is no object. 

 But the plans of the most knowing master may be un- 

 avoidably thrown over, in the earliest stage of the day's 

 proceedings. He may collect all the field who are 

 present, on parade as it were, into the desired corner ; 

 he may place his whips most artistically ; yet how can he 

 prevent Tomkins (who is always late) from coming 

 scuttling up on his hack, just as the fox is on foot, and 

 meeting that well-meaning animal face to face ? or how 

 can he see through the black bullfinch that conceals 

 Lady Julia Gadabout and her latest admirer from the 



