CHAPTER LVII 



THE ETHICS OF HUNTING 



When the hunting season has come to a close 

 seems a fitting time to review the situation, and 

 to take a look at the relative positions of the 

 Master of the Hounds, his field, subscribers and non- 

 subscribers, and the men over whose land the hunt 

 ride. Not very long ago a gentleman remarked 

 to me, " It is all very well pretending, but as a 

 matter of fact most of us who go out know nothing 

 and care nothing about hound work ; it is the 

 gallop we go for, and the Master ought to recog- 

 nise that fact." That there is a great deal in my 

 friend's argument from his standpoint I am pre- 

 pared to admit, but men who argue his way, and 

 take his line of argument as a basis of criticism of 

 the Master and hunt servants, should remember 

 that there is another standpoint, and that is the 

 Master's. He knows well enough that these good 

 gallops which his field are so eager for, and in 

 which he himself is quite as eager to participate, 

 can only be had by careful breeding and manage- 

 ment of hounds ; he knows that a harum-scarum 

 policy of galloping on for a fresh fox will spoil 

 his hounds, and he knows that an undue hunting 

 of any one district will cause some ill-feeling on 

 the part of the residents and occupiers of land in 



