210 ifcfngs of tbe 1Rot>, 1Rffle t an& (Bun 



The place was intended as a sinecure, but Gardiner reck- 

 lessly altered existing relations, increased rents, drove out 

 tenants, and even endeavoured to choose the guests and 

 order the dinners of his employer. This, it must be 

 remembered, is Gardiner's own account of his proceed- 

 ings as given in his Autobiography under the pseudonym 

 of " Dick Merryfellow," and it may be a sarcastic exag- 

 geration of the reasons alleged by Coke for dismissing 

 him, after six months' trial, with a gratuity of .200. 



Dismissed at any rate he was, and, as he alleged, at 

 the instigation of Sir Henry Harbord, to whom he 

 addressed a long letter full of vituperation. Sir Henry 

 and Coke answered with indignant denials of Gardiner's 

 assertions, and there was a fierce paper war between 

 them. When the next election came on Gardiner avenged 

 himself by lampooning Coke as " Sir Growl " and 

 " Prince Pinery," holding him up to ridicule for his lack 

 of brains, " his baby face and simpering smile," and to 

 execration for his meanness and selfishness, declaring 

 that he thought of nothing but himself and his sport, that 

 the " broken meats " which had once been given to the 

 poor were now bestowed upon his hounds, and that he 

 was barbaric in his merciless severity to everyone guilty 

 of even the slightest transgression of the Game Laws. 

 I think most of the disparaging stories of Coke may be 

 traced to the venomous pen of Major Richard Gardiner. 



Possibly, then, Thomas William Coke was influenced 

 by his unfortunate experiences of an " auditor-general " 

 to take up farming on his own account, and was perhaps 

 piqued, by Gardiner's assertion that he was not fit to 

 have the control of his own estates, into showing the 



