418 ikin^s of tbe IbuntinQ^-jftelt) 



authoress of * The Queens of England ' as the author of 

 ' Holmby House,' a novel of which everyone was talking, 

 that austere lady's first remark to him was as staggering 

 as it was unexpected. ' Did your publisher find the work 

 pay?' There was a twinkle in Whyte-Melville's eyes which 

 belied the solemnity of his face and voice as he replied, 

 ' Alas ! madam, he dates the commencement of his ruin 

 from the hour that he undertook my unfortunate novel.' 



Of his hunting novels I think ' Market Harborough, 

 or How Mr Sawyer went to the Shires ' is the best. 

 Indeed, Anthony Trollope thought it the best hunting 

 novel ever written. But there are admirable pictures of 

 scenes in the hunting-field in ' Digby Grand,' the 

 ' Brookes of Bridlemere ' and ' Katerfelto.' ' The Run of 

 the Season ' in ' Digby Grand,' and ' The Duke's Run ' in 

 the ' Brookes of Bridlemere,' may challenge comparison 

 with ' Nimrod's ' famous description of ia day with the 

 Quorn in dash and go, whilst they are certainly 

 superior from a purely literary point of view. 



I am inclined to think that Whyte-Melville touched his 

 high-water mark as a writer in the first part of ' Cerise,' 

 which, though a most unequal book, contains some of his 

 best work. ' The Gladiators ' is, no doubt, the finest of his 

 tales, in so far as sustained power and interest are con- 

 cerned. That and ' Holmby House ' will probably be read 

 long after his other novels are forgotten, for their subjects 

 are of perennial interest, whilst pictures of the life and 

 manners of fifty years ago, however true and graphic, 

 take little hold on the public of to-day. 



Doubtless many of his hunting-songs will live, though 

 I will hardly go so far as one of his admirers, who says : 

 ' As the poet-laureate of the hunting-field he stands 

 alone. His songs will not be forgotten or unsung so long 



