Public Testimonials, 167 



cherish ; the second was a large framed 

 portrait, in oils, of myself and two and a half 

 couples of my hounds ; and the third time, to 

 mark my jubilee as a Master of Hounds, and 

 on the occasion of handing over the horn, they 

 were good enough to give me an illuminated 

 address and an inscribed gold watch. 



The Earl of Hardwicke presided at the 

 public dinner when my jubilee was celebrated, 

 and I could not be expected to repeat what 

 was said of my pack and the good sport we 

 had shown. That was in 1890, and some 

 friends have kept reports of the speech in 

 which I then tried to express my sense of the 

 debt of gratitude which I felt that I owed all 

 round. I have been asked to reproduce that 

 acknowledgment here, and I hope no charge 

 of egotism will be levelled against me if I do 

 so. I said : — 



"You have imposed upon me this day the most 

 difficult task it has ever yet fallen to my lot to encounter — 

 difficult, inasmuch as I know too well it is totally 

 impossible for me to find language that can adequately 

 convey to you how sincerely I appreciate this great, 

 kind, and complimentary gathering. I can only beg of 



