270 MmQ Of tbc 1[3untin0*3ftel^ 



two Milton cracks, Darter and the original Druid, had 

 secured first and second honours for Lord Fitzwilliam. 

 Now, Mr Meynell's hounds were reputed the best .in 

 England, and to have beaten them was a great feather 

 in Will Deane's cap, a feat which, to my thinking, utterly 

 disposes of the charge of incompetency brought against 

 him by ' The Druid.' 



When the Earl succeeded to the Wentworth estates 

 in 1782 he also started a hunting establishment in York- 

 shire, and his magnificent seat, Wentworth House, 

 became a great centre of the noble sport. There he built 

 stables and kennels unsurpassed in the three kingdoms, 

 and hunted the country in that princely style which has 

 always been a characteristic feature of the sportsmen of 

 his race. It was here that, in 1789, he entertained the 

 Prince of Wales (afterwards George IV) with a splen- 

 dour that suggested 



' The wealth of Ormus or of Ind, 

 Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand 

 Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold.' 



And not only was Royalty thus superbly catered for, 

 but no less than 40,000 persons, assembled by invitation 

 in the beautiful park, partook of the Earl's lavish hospi- 

 tality. 



But, though his heart was in the hunting-field, Lord 

 Fitzwilliam felt that duty called him into the less 

 congenial sphere of politics. A Whig of the good old 

 school, and the lifelong friend of Charles James Fox, 

 he was, nevertheless, broad-minded enough to appreciate 

 the genius and policy of Pitt, and it was the latter who 

 sent him to Ireland as Lord-Lieutenant in 1794. Seldom, 

 if ever, has any Irish Viceroy been so popular as Earl 

 Fitzwilliam. Unfortunatel}% owing to a misunderstand- 



