302 FOX-HUNTING IN THE SHIRES 



to pay carriage or to cart our parcels up from the 

 station, and the advantage of this ought not to and 

 cannot remain without a balance to the seller. The 

 tradesman is entitled to charge for the expenses of 

 distribution. 



Another item in our expenditure in the Midlands, 

 which must be a large one, is the subscription to 

 the hunt. Nor ought this to be the only subscrip- 

 tion we pay, seeing that the charities and the amuse- 

 ments of the district have a claim on us which must 

 not be put on one side. These are as much a part 

 of the expense of hunting as our stable bills or the 

 wages of our servants. People have no moral right 

 to come into a neighbourhood to hunt and leave the 

 place no better or happier for it. We ought on every 

 ground to try to make people feel that the hunt 

 brightens the whole life of the neighbourhood and 

 adds to its resources for the relief of suffering and 

 distress. It would be futile and useless to lay down 

 rules or to estimate the sums to be so expended, but 

 a wise and kindly liberality will be our best guide in 

 such matters. 



As to the subscription to the hunt, that is a much 

 misunderstood duty. If in the past every one had 

 tried to give as much, and not as little, as they decently 

 could, we should not now have so many difficulties 

 to contend with. But at all events things have 

 not been as they should be in this respect, and hunt 

 committees have been forced to fix minimum sub- 

 scriptions. Elsewhere I have discussed some of the 

 problems of hunt finance, but now I take things as 

 they are. Thus it will be found that the subscriptions 

 will vary a little in different centres. From Melton 

 the Quorn asks for £40 from those who hunt regularly 

 with them. The Cottesmore £2$, and the Belvoir 



