456 Ifctngs of tbe 1Rot>, IRifle, anfc (Bun 



In his search for fitting armour he tells us that he could 

 not find a breastplate large enough for him, and he adds : 

 " I am quite sure that it would have taken three of the 

 largest ever known beaten into one to have covered the 

 ample chest of Lord Downshire." From this fact he 

 draws the deduction that the men of to-day are of far 

 finer physique than those of the days of chivalry. I do 

 not agree with him in that deduction. I think that the 

 constant wearing of armour and the hard physical exertion 

 which their mode of life incessantly entailed upon them 

 made our ancestors lean and fine-drawn. They carried 

 no superfluous flesh, but were hard and wiry, with none 

 of the brawn of such men as the Marquis of Downshire ; 

 hence their girth of chest was smaller, though their height 

 and strength were doubtless as great. 



It was Berkeley's fancy to go to the Tournament 

 incognito as the Unknown Knight and not reveal 

 himself until he had won the meed of victory. But his 

 proposals that the horses and armour of those who fell 

 should be the spoil of the victor, and that the victorious 

 knight should also have the right to name the Queen of 

 Beauty, were scouted by the promoters of the Tourna- 

 ment. So, finding that the whole thing was to be a mere 

 farce, Grantley would have no more to do with it. 



Up to the year 1852, when he lost his seat for West 

 Gloucestershire, Berkeley divided his time between 

 politics and sport. The only noteworthy incident in his 

 Parliamentary career was his successful motion for 

 admitting ladies to the gallery of the House of Commons. 

 For this gallant act he was cheered all along Rotten Row 

 on the day after the speech by which he secured the con- 



