2 SPORT. 



ridden wheat, which are the result of the inroads of 

 constantly increasing multitudes of ignorant riders 

 unable to distinguish seeds from squitch or turnips 

 from tares, and which have already caused the masters 

 of several packs of hounds to discontinue the public 

 advertisement of their meets. Why, then, is fox- 

 hunting, which is generally regarded as the rich 

 man's or country squire's (by no means synonymous 

 terms) amusement, still the popular sport of the 

 nation ? 



The reason is to be found, first, in the manly pre- 

 dilection inherent to our Anglo-Saxon nature for a sport 

 into which the element of danger conspicuously enters ; 

 and, secondly, in that it is essentially a democratic 

 sport, wherein the favourite socialistic ideal, " The 

 greatest happiness for the greatest number," is in 

 some sort realised. The red coat — and not it alone, 

 but the top-boot, or any outward and visible sign of a 

 fox-hunter — covers a multitude of sins. The law of 

 trespass is abolished for the day. The lands of the 

 most exclusive aristocrat are open to the public, 



