YORKSHIRE 321 



about the cut of the Sqmre Westerns of their day ; had Nature been 

 less sparing of her endowments, all this would be far less remarkable 

 than it now appears ; but the contrary is the real fact. His Lord- 

 ship is not only a man of very considerable natural talent, but of 

 highly cultivated acquirements ; an adept in almost all languages ; 

 and possesses what, in the lingo of the w^orld, is called as good a head 

 as any man in England or any other country can boast of. He has 

 travelled a great deal, and now spends his summers on the Continent ; 

 has a turn for the polite arts, as well as the lesser elegancies of life ; 

 and never forgets what he hears or sees. If, then, we combine 

 these several advantages with his great knowledge of the world, 

 we may safely conclude that he has never gone a hunting, like Gallus 

 of old, from the want of something better to amuse himself with. 

 Exclusive of all this, he looks most minutely into his private 

 affairs, and business may be said to be the pastime of his leisure 

 hours. 



The month of March, and particularly this advanced period of 

 it, affords but few opportunities of detailing sport wdth hounds. 

 On Wednesday, 20th, we did nothing worth speaking of with 

 the Eaby pack. We were unfortunate in chopping our first 

 fox ; and our sport with our second, which we ran for an hour, was 

 destroyed by his being coursed by a dog in the first place, and no 

 scent in the second. His Lordship rode Bergami and Moses 

 this day — both very clever horses, and the former a splendid 

 fencer. 



We had a considerable addition to our party this day at the Castle, 

 amongst whom I was happy to find some of my Durham friends — 

 namely, all the family of the Shaftos, Mr. Harland, &c., — and w^e 

 assembled in the state drawing-room. 



No hunting on Thursday, so it was only a day of lounge. I 

 accompanied Mr. Milbanke to the village of Staindrop, which is just 

 without the park wall, and where the horses of all the visitors to Eaby 

 stand. As Mr. Milbanke and Lady Augusta always take up their 

 abode at the Castle during the residence of the Marquis in the winter, 

 he has built for himself some excellent stables and coach-houses for 

 his own private use ; but my horses stood at the sign of the Fox and 

 Hounds, kept by the noted Bob Williams, for many years head 



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