All through this period the Beagles were growing in importance in the School. They did not force themselves forward, but almost imperceptibly they began to assume the position they have held ever since. And they continued to prosper during the next three years under the Mastership of J. G. Chambers, W. T. Trench and F. G. Pelham. Schneider and Senhouse were Chambers’ whips, and at the end of the season a presentation was made to him as a testimonial. During the next year W. T. Trench held office with F. G. Pelham and H. M. Meysey-Thompson (now Lord Knaresborough) as his whips. W. T. Trench in a letter said: “We wound up the season with a drag to Maidenhead, when the subscribers very kindly presented me with a silver cup, which I am proud to have on my dining table now.” F. G. Pelham was Master during the following season. He won the Mile and was second in the Steeplechase in 1863. As his second whip he had W. R. Griffiths, the Captain of the Boats. Pelham also had a testimonial presented to him. I have passed over these three years lightly because little information has come to hand and no anecdotes at all. It is too long ago to expect much, and what I have are merely isolated statements. But in 1864 I am on firmer ground. Col. R. F. Meysey-Thompson has supplied me with a diary which contains a complete record of the season’s sport. H. M. Meysey-Thompson was Master, and his whips, A. Turnor and S. H. Sandbach, are still alive. There is so much to be said about H. M. Meysey-Thompson that a letter from A. Turnor will not be inappropriate here as giving an excellent and vivid summary of the sport. “_North Stoke, Grantham._ “The recollection of the Eton Beagles in 1864 is perhaps more vivid than my recollection of Aeschylus and of Homer. The kennels were on Dorney Common, a miserable and ramshackle construction, and a bagged fox resided within earshot of the musical harmony of his relentless pursuers. Joby Minor, the most artful poacher in Eton, was kennel huntsman, ran with the drag and administered to the comforts of the fox. The hounds, a somewhat unlevel pack, were contributed by the ardent sons of Nimrod who valued more the hunting lore of Beckford, Silk and Scarlet, and such like sporting authors, than anything Greece or Rome could produce in the way of Classics. W. T. Trench and his brother Benjamin, Lord Worcester, Dick Thompson and the writer were notable amongst others who brought hounds, and the Hon. Evelyn Pelham and the present Lord Knaresborough were amongst those who carried the horn. The sport was of the finest, and the climax was reached when hounds found a wild hare, and after a choral service of two hours hunted her to the death.