384 IRlnos ot the 1buntincJ''fiel^ 



of all, the great statesman contented himself with a 

 brief and hurried view of the animated scene on the 

 lawn from the terrace, and hurried into the famous 

 librar}', where he found more congenial pastime. The 

 only remark he was heard to make upon the stirring 

 spectacle which had so little attraction for him was : — 

 ' The farmers cannot be so badly off or they would not 

 ride such beautiful horses as those I saw this morning.' 



When Mr Gladstone came back to power in 1880, 

 Lord Spencer once more laid down the horn of the 

 huntsman and took up the portfolio of the statesman. 

 His first office was that of Lord President of the Council, 

 but on the resignation of Earl Cowper he was persuaded 

 again to assume the onerous duties of Viceroy of Ireland. 

 He arrived in Dublin on the evening of that memorable 

 6th of May when Lord Frederick Cavendish and Mr 

 Thomas Burke were brutally murdered in Phoenix Park. 

 It was a cruel welcome back to the Castle, but during 

 all the terrible and trying time that followed, Lord 

 Spencer bore himself with a firmness, a dignity and 

 a courage which excited the admiration of even his 

 bitterest political opponents. 



In 1890 Lord Spencer became for the third time Master 

 of one of the finest packs and most delightful hunting 

 countries in the three kingdoms. But in 1894 he finally 

 resigned the Mastership of the Pytchley, and was suc- 

 ceeded by Mr W. M. Wroughton. The sportsmen of 

 Northamptonshire, than whom there are none keener 

 in England, swear b}^ the ' Red Earl ' as a model Master 

 of Foxhounds ; his tenants declare him to be the best 

 of landlords ; and society in general is agreed that no 

 truer gentleman has ever borne the honoured name of 

 Spencer. 



