12S FAMOUS EACING MEN. 



catastrophe to which she refers, and tells us that !x)rd Wilton him- 

 self, who was standing with ('ount Batthyany, talking to Mr. 

 Huskisson, had a very narrow escape indeed of sharing the awful 

 fate of the unhappy engineer. 



As Commodore of the Royal Yacht Club, Lord Wilton was a 

 not less conspicuous and familiar figui;e at Cowes than at New- 

 market, and that he was no mere fair-weather sailor he proved 

 times without number by his long cruises in the Palatine and 

 other famous yachts which have canied his pennant. It has been 

 suggested that the .^ohriqiud of the "wicked earl" so incongruously 

 applied to him derives its origin from certain scandalous traditions 

 attaching to his famous schooner, the Zarifa, which had been 

 originally a slaver, and was supposed to retain something rakish 

 and piratical about her which she imparted to her noble owner, 

 whom some persons persisted in regarding ns a sort of corsair Don 

 Juan when afloat in that tainted craft. But, so far as we know, there 

 was not the slightest gr<juud for suspecting the highly moral and 

 decorous nobleman, wlio was wont to read prayers on Sunday to 

 his assembled household, of anything in common with the character 

 of a reckless rover, either on sea or land. 



Of late years, however, it is neither with (Jowes nor New- 

 market that the name of the Eai'l of Wilton has been chiefly 

 associated. For the latter half of his life, at any rate, the hunt- 

 ing held claimed his warmest iiffection, and his happiest hours 

 were passed in Melton ^lowbray, of which he was justly styled the 

 king. There it was that Lord Wilton was seen at his best, and in 

 all the three kingdoms there was no hunting-box to compare in 

 perfect iinish with Egerton Lodge. It was indeed a regal estab- 

 lishment, where hospitality was dispensed with princely liberality, 

 and it was <)nly meet that one; <jf the best and hardest riders 

 and most enthusiastic lovers of the chase that ever lived should 

 breathe his last among the scenes most dear to him. Not many 

 months before his death, when it was evident that increasing years 

 had deprived his knees of that firm grip of the saddle for which he 

 was once renowned, he tjxclaimed, while announcing his intention 

 of spending some portion of each winter at Egerton Lodge, " At 

 least if I can no longer ride to hounds as of yore, I can tlie at the 

 place whi(!h I love best on earth." That wish was gratified, and 

 his long life closed amid the music of hounds and horn. Few 

 men, probably, have e\'er extracted so much enjoyment out of 

 existence, at any rate in its purely material pleasures, as Thomas 

 Egerton, second Earl of Wilton. He possessed everything that 

 could render the world enjoyable to him: perfect health, an ample 

 fortune, troops of friends — and we can think of no better epitaph 

 for him than the words inscribed, with far less significance, upon 

 the tomb of a famous English satirist: — 



" [>ife to the last enjoyed, here \\ ilUja lies." 



