The Sport of Our (^Ancestors 



of all forms of existence that this planet has produced. But 

 during these first years of the twentieth century signs were 

 not wanting that peace at home and abroad might come to 

 an end. Life became more restless. Party feeling was 

 bitter. There was incitement to class warfare. There was 

 much shouting on the platform. The very Constitution in 

 Church and State was called into question. No thoughtful 

 person could ignore the German menace. And all the time 

 the automobile in the hunting - field was causing grave 

 searchings of heart among the conservative temperaments. 



And not without some reason. Certain aspects of Fox- 

 hunting have never been quite the same since self-propelled 

 traffic took possession of our country roads. The most 

 plausible defence of hunting by motor-car is that the time 

 saved in this manner can be profitably devoted to the trans- 

 action of business, domestic or otherwise. When people 

 say this, they probably mean that the time can be comfort- 

 ably devoted to lying in bed. But granted that the busy 

 man can leave the door at 10.15 ^•^- ^^ ^ motor-car instead 

 of at 9.30 A.M. in a carriage, is there much real saving of 

 tissue ? The time between 9.30 a.m. and 10.15 a.m. might 

 be more restfully spent in the phaeton or the buggy than 

 in talking on the telephone, interviewing the agent, or com- 

 posing letters to creditors. But w^hether one goes to the 

 meet in a motor-car, in a carriage, or on horseback is entirely 

 a question of taste. Although a motor-car in the hunting- 

 field is sadly out of the picture, its use as a covert hack has 

 had no real effect on the sport. But it has probably had some 

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