tlbe iBatlB Spencev 379 



appointment to the Lord- Lieutenancy of Ireland, under 

 Mr Gladstone's Administration. 



That his thoughts still, however, flew back to the 

 sport he loved, is proved by the following letter, written 

 in December 1869, and quoted by Mr. H. O. Nethercote 

 in his ' History of the Pytchley Hunt' 



' We are comparatively quiet just now. Irish affairs 

 are undergoing a crisis, as must always be the case 

 where great changes are taking place. They who are 

 benefited are too accustomed to their old grievances to 

 become champions of law and order, and the agitators 

 do not distinguish between real and fictitious evils. I 

 am satisfied, however, that patience and perseverance in 

 doing justice, and acting with impartiality, will eventually 

 bear their fruit. Those who have to deal with all this 

 will have their equanimity sorely tried, and must wear a 

 thick skin.' The writer then goes on to say : — ' I have 

 had some gallops with the Ward Staghounds to keep me 

 going. A sharp ride to covert and a good thirty 

 minutes have kept me from collapsing. There is 

 nothing like a good gallop across country, even to stag- 

 hounds, to drive dull care away. Three hours' forgetful- 

 ness of a worry gives one a new start. We had a very 

 good, run two days ago, fifteen miles from start to take. 

 I had the satisfaction of being in first : onl}' five others 

 up at all.' 



On a later occasion the Lord-Lieutenant was quite 

 alone when the stag was captured after a good run. 

 The Dublin journals loudly proclaimed the feat of one 

 man, and that man no other than the Viceroy himself, 

 beating the whole field, and that field a ' Ward Union ' 

 one. The news of this performance having elicited 

 some inquiries from a Pytchley friend. Lord Spencer 



