34 THE HUNTING FIELD 



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 troph}-, of course, will 

 be hers. If not, the claims of the rising generation may be 

 considered. The younger the recipient the greater the charm. 

 " M}' first brush " is a recollection 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 compli- 

 ments. 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 whom no penny postage efforts would move. Wonderful 

 world this ! Men talk of their thousands, from whom it is 

 easier to extract an eye-tooth than a sovereign. 



In speaking of a " hunt dinner," we mean one of those 

 general hawls, that are meant to include '' all the world and 

 his wife," every one friendly to fo.xhunting, and not the 

 ordinary mess of sportsmen at their own wine depot. The latter 

 are generally very pleasant meetings, especially when divested 

 of form, speechifying, health-drinking, and so on. Toasts 

 should never be resorted to so long as men can talk. They 

 are sure to bring conversation to a check. But to business. 

 We have had our Master in Cottonwool's domestic circle, we 



