8 REMINISCENCES OF 



said it miorht be said that the toasts was not a 

 necessity at a fox-hunting dinner, but if they would 

 look at it a moment they would see that such was 

 not the case. The late Duke of Wellington attri- 

 buted the prowess of his officers in the Peninsular 

 War to their education in the hunting field, where 

 they had gained that decision, judgment and self- 

 reliance which was always of great use in a campaign. 

 Long might our army be officered with fox-hunters. 

 Their sailors were not inferior to their soldiers, but 

 he did not know whether the day was not coming 

 when that toast would have to undergo some modi- 

 fication, for under the present Government the army 

 and navy seemed to be getting gradually smaller 

 and beautifully less. They were told, however, that 

 the more they were reduced the more efficient 

 they became, and in a short time they might expect 

 them to arrive at the highest point of efficiency, 

 namely, nil. If that was the case the country might 

 trust to the efficiency of the volunteer forces, repre- 

 sented in this county by the militia, the yeomanry, 

 and the volunteers, of whom the county was justly 

 proud. He would couple the toast with the name 

 of Sir Henry Home for the army. Colonel Maddox 

 for the militia, and Colonel Loyd- Lindsay for the 

 volunteers. 



" Sir Frederick Home responded for the army, 

 and said his own experience of forty-two years in the 

 army confirmed the truth of the Duke of Wellington's 

 opinion as to the value of the hunting field as a 

 training for the army. During the thirteen years 



