The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-04-27
HARE COURS|NG At
ETON TO CONTINUE
Reverend Master Declines to
Prohibit Cruel Hunt
REASONS EXPLAINED
Master in Reply to Humanitarians
Declares Killing of Hare Keeps
His Youthful Charges From
Undesirable Activities

London, April 26.-tSpeciaL almost
under the walls of Eton college a scene
was enacted recently which for sheer
brutality it would be hard to beat. A
hard pressed hare which the boys of the
College had been hunting with pack OF
houndhs Cor beagles), maintained at the
college for this purpose, twice swan
the river with the pack close behind
and half a hundred boys yelling like
fiends on the banks. and was in the act
of swimming 1t a third time when it
was pulled under and killed amid the
enthusiastic cheers of the young Eton-
ans who, of course, are mostly the sons
of noblemen and other aristocrats and
form the nucleus of the ruling class
of the future in this country.
This termination to the regular week
ly run of the Elton Beagles" was a lit
tie more brutal than usual, but not
much more. The Elton Beagles." which
are supported by subscriptions, nearly
always succeed In killing" as the
phrase goes, when the carcase of the
slaughtered hare is whirled triumph
antly round the head of the chief boy
Whip and torn to pieces by the yelp-
Ing pack amid whoops of triumph from
IA gloating "fied.'' A similar tri-
umph of the E,ton beagles, it may be
remembered. was recalled by that noble
Sportsman, Lord Rossmore, in his recent
book OF "reminiscences in these words:
zone of the prettiest things / ever
Sc was a hare, very hard pressed, that
took to the water and swan right out
into the middle with all the hounds
after her, but she was, unfortunately,
SO beat that she was drowned from
sheer exhaustion half wy across"
The latest exhibition of brutality at
Elton has shocked humanitarians, and
an influentially signed petition was pre-
sented, the other day, to Canon Lyttle-
ton, the reverend headmaster of Etor
college. begging him to do away with
the pastime of hare hunting at Elton,
on the ground that It's effect is TO
stimulate cruelty among the young.
This, by the way. is by no means the
first petition of the kind that has been
laid before head of the famous col
lege with a similar object others in the
past having been signed by Herbert
Spencer, Sir Frederick Treves, Sir a.
Conan Doyle. the late Lord Wolseley.
and other famous men, but all without
avail.
After due reflection, Canon Lyttleton,
who himself Is the son of lord, has re-
Piled to the petition with a letter in
which he declines to do away with the
PcoSies, anu III exceedingly iohidih'
able letter it Is. To begin with, this
man of God, who before becoming head
master of Elton, was Hon. Canon of st.
Adams, and who is the author, amongst
other books. of one called studies in
the Sermon on the Mount, asserts that
far from there being an increase in cru
city amongst English boys, many edu-
Gators are not without misgiving at the
almost unnatural gentleness of the
modern schoolboy compared with his
forefather."
How insignificant. then" says the
canon. must the influence of this Kind
of hunting have been in the opposite
directionr'
Then this amazing eccleslastic VINO,
II Is an open secret was made head mas
ter OF Elton chiefly because of the blue
ness OF his blood and not for any spe-
cial gifts as scholar, goes on to give
as his reason for refusing TO do away
with the organized hare coursing az
Eton his belief that to prohibit a cru
sading spirit against certain birds and
animals which is certain TO exist among
the young. IL likely to goad 1t INTO un-
desirable forms OF activity" In other
words, the Eton boys must be allowed
TO hunt the hare lest, TO gratify their
inborn passion for the chase they
should take to cAursng bigger game
sucn' pernapn. Is Head masters
Canon AytteltQp u afraid, 100 lest ne