LORD SUFFIELD 97 



Mr. Holyoake took the name of Goodricke, and was 

 subsequently made a baronet. No material alterations 

 were made in the hunting establishment, except such 

 additions of horses and hounds as circumstances 

 required ; and after two seasons of remarkably good 

 sport, the management was taken by Mr. Errington, 

 who kept them till the spring of 1838, when the late 

 Lord Suffield came forward, and supplying a lavish 

 expenditure of money his lordship was expected to 

 eclipse every former master of hounds in this aristo- 

 cratic atmosphere. 



How frequently are human expectations disappointed 

 — unfortuitous, unexpected events frustrate our hopes ; 

 for there is luck, whether it be good or bad, attendant 

 upon fox-hunting as well as upon other mundane 

 affairs. The weather, for example, has great influence, 

 and as first impressions carry great weight in public 

 opinion, if a new aspirant to the honours of being 

 a master of hounds is fortunate enough to have a good 

 scenting season, which enables him to show great sport, 

 to begin with, his fame is established ; if, on the other 

 hand, the prevailing condition of the elements is such 

 that there are very few scenting days, all the misadven- 

 tures are ascribed to want of experience and bad 

 management. 



This was in some measure the case during Lord 

 Suffield's short reign in Leicestershire. No man could 

 possibly have been more anxious to show sport than 

 his lordship ; but unpropitious circumstances appeared 

 at the commencement and did not quite clear off 

 afterwards. Desirous to procure the most efficient and 

 valuable pack of hounds in the market, Lord Suffield 

 applied to Mr. Lambton and received a partial refusal 

 of that gentleman's pack at the previously unparalleled 

 price of 3,000 guineas. In the interim, the sale of them 

 was contracted by two friends of Mr. Lambton's to 

 Sir Matthew White Ridley for 2,500 guineas, and they 

 were actually paid for and in his possession, and the 

 servants who had been for many years with these 

 G 



