The Sport of Our Ancestors 



phernalia of local government compelled their attention, if 

 even from no other instinct than that of self-preservation. 

 Parliamentary elections ceased to be a choice between a 

 Whig and a Tory landlord ; the squire was opposed by the 

 Radical, who was not ashamed to confess that he was out to 

 demolish the existing order, and to lay his hands on the 

 very Ark of the Covenant in the shape of the hereditary 

 principle. The electors ceased to take things for granted. 

 The spirit of that pleasant age indicated by the Eton boy 

 who said, ' Don't bother about farming or politics ; all 

 father's tenants have to do is to walk a Foxhound puppy and 

 vote for the Conservatives,' was quickly passing. Leaflets, 

 pamphlets, and all the other horrors of that terrible thing 

 called propaganda were brought into full play. The com- 

 fortable evening at home had to give way, with distressing 

 frequency, to the village meeting. A wise and witty Tory 

 ' grande dame ' is said to have remarked that unless this 

 privation were cheerfully borne, ' the eight o'clock dinner 

 would ruin the Conservative Party.' 



All these things, quite independently of war, combined 

 to make life at the beginning of this century much more of 

 a hustle than ever it had been before. Instances of the 

 sealed pattern existence of the affluent country gentleman 

 became very rare. In former times it had been his custom 

 to change his seat of government from his country house to his 

 London house on the same date every year. He purchased 

 a commission for his eldest son in the Household Troops, 

 or sent him into Parliament. The younger sons divided 

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