BOYHOOD OF THE EIGHTH DUKE 



fifty years have seen, there is still no more wonderful 

 power than the leadership of a great English noble- 

 man in his own country. The will and opinions 

 of the one man direct and control those of the 

 many, and far more certainly than by men who 

 have what is sometimes called the substance of 

 power in their hands. This influence is entirely 

 unsupported by force ; it is all so intangible and 

 made up of so many threads that it is almost im- 

 possible to define. It certainly is not, however, 

 the result of a splendid isolation. As we follow the 

 course of the eighth Duke's life, we recognise that 

 there has been no more personally influential man 

 among landed proprietors in our time, and none 

 who mixed more freely with his people. In him 

 we find the combination of a very human nature 

 with gifts, ability, and a great position. 



But we have gone far ahead of the year 1824, 

 and those early days when the little Lord Glamorgan 

 travelled to and from school on the coaches that 

 were then the means of conveyance for all classes. 

 To these journeys the Duke always looked back 

 with pleasure, and no doubt they laid the foundation 

 of that knowledge of the road and the love for 

 driving that never left him. For he was undoubt- 

 edly the finest amateur coachman of our day. In- 

 deed his education and his knowledge of driving 

 went hand in hand. That the latter taste was 

 inherited is clear from the fact that his father, 

 who did not succeed to the dukedom till his 



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