302 ikings ot tbe 1buntmg*3fielb 



of August 1759, was largely owing to the skill and 

 courage with which he led the charges of the British and 

 Hanoverian horse. He was, too, as jovial as he was 

 brave — a tremendous toper and an enthusiastic sports- 

 man. Thrift, however, was not his strong point. When 

 he married Frances, eldest daughter of Charles Seymour, 

 sixth Duke of Somerset, one of the most parsimonious 

 persons of his time, Horace Walpole wrote thus to his 

 friend Sir Horace Mann about the happy event : ' The 

 bride is one of the heiresses of old proud Somerset. 

 She has ^4000 a year ; he is said to have the same in 

 present, but not to touch hers. He is in debt ;^io,ooo. 

 She was to give him ;^ 10,000, but now Lord Winchilsea 

 (her uncle and guardian) refuses. Upon the strength of 

 her fortune Lord Granby proposed to treat her with 

 presents to the amount of ;^ 12,000, but desired her to 

 buy them. The lady, who never saw or knew the value 

 of ten shillings while her father lived, and had not had 

 time to learn it, bespoke away so roundly, that, for one 

 article of plate, she ordered ten silver sauceboats ; besides 

 this, she and her sister have squandered ;^7000 apiece in all 

 sorts of baubles and fripperies, so her ;^4000 a year is to 

 be set aside for two years to pay her debts. Don't )'OU 

 like this English management? Two of the greatest 

 fortunes mating and setting out with poverty and 

 want ! ' 



Those debts of the gallant Marquis had mounted up 

 to i^37,ooo, unsecured, when gout carried him off at the 

 age of forty-nine. But if his life were a short one it 

 was certainly a merry one. He was the most popular 

 man in England. His jolly face looked down upon 

 sympathetic convivialists from hundreds of sign-boards. 

 It was of 'The Markis o' Granby' that the immortal 



