90 



THE HUNTING-FIELD. 



"VYuy ; his hunter^ perfect in shape^ make^ and 

 condition^ is fit to run on a flat for a man^s life : 

 and while the first noble master I have specified 

 arrives at the fixture in his post- carriage, stan- 

 hope, or on a safe good hack, our younger one 

 comes careering across the country on a three 

 hundred guinea hunter to whom he gives this 

 breathing as a preparation for his next hunting 

 day ; or if the distance is too far for this, we see 

 him in his mail shooting carriage, or his four- 

 in-hand, with horses, in the purchase of any of 

 which, the change out of a hundred and fifty 

 would not pay two hours of the daily expendi- 

 ture of his establishment. 



In the bearing of the two different masters 

 towards the field, a considerable difference may 

 be remarked by any observer. The more experi- 

 enced master and older inhabitant of the country, 

 notices ouly such men as rank high in point of 

 conduct and character ; and if any steeple-chase 

 rider, whose puppyism and impertience were only 

 equalled by his ignorance and ill-temper, should 

 happen to be out, he Avould be no more noticed 

 by the master as a desirable addition to the field 

 than would any stray hound who might choose to 

 join the pack, so long as he was unobserved by 

 the whip. Our younger M. F. H., acting more 

 in accordance with the times, would probably 

 hold such a man riding steeple-chases as a pass- 



