CHAPTER XVII. 



GEORGE III. TO VICTORIA. 



The History of the Royal Buckhounds stopped by Her Majesty's Ministers. — 

 Official Dog-in-the-Mangerism. — Red Tape. — No more Official Information 

 permitted. — Conjectures and Speculations. — No Official Information of the 

 Buckhounds during the Reigns of George IV., William IV., and Victoria. — 

 The Masters and the Hunt- Servants. — And, " God Save the Queen." — 

 Postscript. 



George II. expired quite unexpectedly on October 25, 1760. 

 The sad intelligence was immediately conveyed to his grand- 

 son, George, Prince of Wales, henceforward King George III. 

 And it is a remarkable circumstance — especially in relation to 

 our subject — that just as the young monarch had unknowingly 

 passed over the threshold of the throne, he was proceeding, 

 accompanied by Lord Bute, to a meet of the Royal Harriers 

 in the New Park, Richmond. This good omen in the career 

 of the Royal Hunt during his long and prosperous reign was 

 not belied, as it is notorious the Royal Buckhounds were 

 sustained more efficiently, showed better sport, gave the best 

 average runs, and were better patronised by all classes during 

 this sovereign's reign than had ever previously been known 

 in the annals of the hunt. Yet in full view of this universally 

 admitted fact, how tantalising is the circumstance that during 

 the greater portion of this glorious epoch the official dog-in- 

 the-manger effectually puts an embargo on the voyage of this 

 " harmless historic." 



Soon after his accession, George III. renewed and filled up 

 all the patent and other offices of the Household and admini- 

 strative departments, one of the first appointments being the 

 Earl of Huntingdon as Master of the Horse. Lord Bateman 

 retained the official insignia of the Buckhounds, and was most 



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