goings than there had been for a quarter of a century.

In the summer and autumn the president made Rambouillet his preferred
residence, and there received many visiting sovereigns and notables of
all ranks. In one year a score of "Official Hunts" were held, to which
all the members of the diplomatic corps were invited, while there were
two or three affairs of an "International" character in honour of
visiting sovereigns.

All was under the control of the Grand Veneur of the Third Republic, the
Comte de Girardin, and while a truly royal flavour may have been lacking
the general aspect was much the same as it might have been in the days
of the monarchy. The Captain of the Hunt under Felix Faure was the
Inspector of Forests, Leddet, and the Premier Veneur was the Commandant
Lagarenne.

The president himself was a marksman of the first rank, and never was
there a reckoning up of the _tableau_ but that he was near the head of
the list. So accomplished was he with the rifle that on more than one
occasion he was obliged to practically efface himself in favour of some
visiting monarch, as it was said he did in the case of the King of
Portugal in 1895, the Grand Ducs Vladimir and Nicolas in 1896.

Huntsmen not royal by virtue of title, or alliance, the Republican
president beat to a stand-still. He had no pity nor favour for a mere
ambassador, whether he hailed from England or Germany, nor for members
of the Institute, Senators nor Deputies. With Prince Albert of Monaco
he held himself equal, and for every bird shot on the wing by the head
of the house of Grimaldi the "longshoreman" of Havre brought down
another.

_La chasse a courre_ before the law in France to-day may be practiced
only under strictly laid down conditions. The huntsman must legally have
his dogs under such control, and keep sufficiently close to them, as to
be able to recover the quarry immediately after it has been closed in
upon by the hounds.

Like shooting, since the Decree of 1844, hunting with hounds may only be
undertaken under authority of a _permis de chasse_, and in open season,
during the daytime, and with the consent of the owners over whose
properties the hunt is to be held.

The ceremony of the hunt in France now follows the traditions of the
classic hunt of the monarchy. The _veneur_ decides on the rendezvous,
whether the quarry be stag or chevreuil, fox or hare. The _piqueur_
follows close up with the dogs, sets them on or calls them