I doubt whether
any master of a subscription pack would advertise his meets for
eleven, with an understanding that the hounds were never to move
till twelve, when he intended to be present in person. Such was
the case with Lord Fitzhardinge, and I do not know that it was
generally thought that he carried his power too far. And I think,
too, that gentlemen feel that they ride with more pleasure when
they themselves contribute to the cost of their own amusement.
Our master of hounds shall be a country gentleman who takes a
subscription, and who therefore, on becoming autocratic, makes
himself answerable to certain general rules for the management of
his autocracy. He shall hunt not less, let us say, than three
days a week; but though not less, it will be expected probably
that he will hunt oftener. That is, he will advertise three days
and throw a byeday in for the benefit of his own immediate
neighbourhood; and these byedays, it must be known, are the cream
of hunting, for there is no crowd, and the foxes break sooner and
run straighter. And he will be punctual to his time, giving
quarter to none and asking none himself. He will draw fairly
through the day, and indulge no caprices as to coverts. The laws,
indeed, are never written, but they exist and are understood; and
when they be too recklessly disobeyed, the master of hounds falls
from his high place and retires into private life, generally
with a broken heart.
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