Eton 37 



He stood up, shaking hands vigorously with such numbers 

 of boys who pressed on, one after the other, that he 

 must have been glad at last when the ordeal was over. 

 Had he lived in these days he would probably have 

 taken the local musie-hall, or some similar place, given 

 lectures, and made a fortune — Tempora mutanhtr ! 



In the winter months we often had the pleasure of 

 seeing the Queen's staghounds pass along, either on their 

 way to the meet, or returning to their kennels at Ascot. 

 Charles Davis was the huntsman, and old as he then 

 was, his remarkably graceful seat, and neat, slim figure, 

 marked him out as being still an exceptionally fine 

 horseman. It was quite a red-letter day when the pack 

 was seen approaching, and we used to rush eagerly to 

 see them pass. Long may they continue, now that the 

 opposition to their existence has met with the fate it 

 deserved. It is very unlikely that a single one of the 

 thousands who lately appended their signatures so readily 

 to the protests against the pack had ever hunted with it, 

 or had the slightest practical knowledge of the conduct 

 of the pursuit they were so anxious to meddle with. 

 Their knowledge was but hearsay, either gathered from 

 the newspapers, or from speeches made by persons as 

 ignorant as themselves. The greater part, if not all, of 

 the signatures, were those of old ladies, shop-girls, 

 domestic servants, post-office employees, even of school 

 children, — a goodly crew, forsooth, to decide upon the 

 merits or demerits of the case. Horace's advice, " Ne 

 sutor ultra crc^ndam," is as much wanted now as it was 

 at the time when he penned it so many centuries ago. 



There were boys at Eton at that time destined to 

 become very famous in after life, and amongst them were 



