THE MASTER 35 



truer saying, than that " birds of a feather flock 

 together," and none but blackguards will put up with 

 one ; but if our Master is what a Master ought to 

 be — a high-minded, liberal, gentlemanly man, affable 

 with his equals, courteous to all, keen without pedantry, 

 neat without puppyism — he will not only raise the 

 character of foxhunting generally, but will exercise a 

 most wholesome influence on the minds and manners 

 of the rising generation within his own peculiar sphere. 

 And this leads us to observe, that there is not, 

 perhaps, in the whole range of the duties of a Master, 

 an act admitting of such graceful compliments as the 

 judicious presentation of the brush. It is in trifles 

 such as this that tact and gentlemanly feeling are shown. 

 If a lady, Henrietta Cottonwool, for instance, is out 

 looking after Smashgate, the flattering trophy, of course 

 will be hers. If not, the claims of the rising genera- 

 tion may be considered. The younger the recipient 

 the greater the charm. "My first brush" is a recol- 

 lection that will survive the more important features 

 of life. A stranger may be complimented. "That 

 brush was given me by the ' best fellow under the 

 sun,' after a good hour and twenty minutes, finding 

 at Waterloo Gorse, in the Harborough country, and 

 running right up into the heart of Leicestershire," is a 

 fine speech for a Devonshire sportsman to make to 

 his provincial friends, as they sit sipping their port 

 and toasting their toes over the fire, on whose ancient 

 mantel-piece the proud trophy is stuck. The pads, 

 too, may be turned to account in the way of minor 

 compliments. Some men keep pad-deries. 



Hunt dinners are nasty things, but upon the whole, 

 perhaps, they are advisable. If men ever have their 

 purses in their pockets — a problem that we almost 

 doubt with regard to some of the community — it will 

 most likely be at "a hand in the pocket" dinner, 

 as hunt ones invariably are, and an " insinivating " 

 secretary may cajole reluctant sovereigns from those 



