34 HUNTING REMINISCENCES 



the impetuous spirits of which a Belvoir field was 

 so largely composed. Yet his government was 

 marked by the gentlest suasion, and in anything 

 stronger than an ironical rebuke he was hardly 

 known to indulge. Seldom interfering with the 

 pack in the field, he never gave his huntsmen a 

 direct command, preferring rather to turn his order 

 into a request. Conservative to a degree, he 

 delighted in upholding all the famous traditions 

 of the family pack, and when discussing any 

 subject relating to hunting, qualified his opinion by 

 saying, " I think Lord Forester would have done 

 so ! " Politics he did not trouble much, but his 

 few speeches in the House of Lords on Protection, 

 which he always upheld, were short, vigorous, and 

 to the point. Such was the master who ruled the 

 destinies of the Belvoir, and whose service Gillard 

 found so congenial and conducive to aspire to 

 excellence. The liberality with which hunting 

 affairs have all through been conducted at Belvoir 

 Castle never degenerated into mere display ; indeed, 

 many provincial establishments were more con- 

 spicuous for the lavish scale of their expenditure. 

 Nothing was spared that could help to make the 

 pack thoroughly efficient or sustain its high reputa- 

 tion, and all reasonable claims for damage were 

 promptly satisfied. 



Every day has its line recorded in the diaries 

 of twenty-six seasons' sport, kept religiously by 

 Gillard. The death of every one of the 2709 

 foxes slain during that period is mentioned. 

 Here is the first entry, characteristic of many 



