AND TEE DUKES OF RICHMOND. 181 



Grace ; in fact, at a preliminary meeting it was 

 stated, that if tlie co-operation of the Duke of 

 Eichmond could be obtained, its formation should 

 be publicly moved at a dinner of the Smithfield Club. 



His Grace seldom, if ever, failed to attend the 

 meetings, or the dinners connected with them, or to 

 exhibit yearly some of his own South Down flock. 

 Sheep breeders throughout the kingdom and in the 

 colonies eagerly sought for sheep from the Goodwood 

 flock. Their wool is considered of the finest quality, 

 and also realizes the top price of the wool fair. 



I have endeavoured to present a faithful epitome 

 of his Grace's life, an example worthy the imitation 

 of every one in any station. I feel bound to include 

 a passage from the memoir of him, published in 1862, 

 by Messrs. Chapman & Hall. 



"Age has its advantages. It gives maturity to 

 the judgment, ripeness to the experience, vividness 

 and strength to faith, consolidation of the character, 

 and nearness and power to eternity and eternal 

 realities. It clothes with a peculiar relish Christian 

 hope, and encircles everything connected with Christ 

 and His kingdom with the radiant atmosphere of a 

 holy satisfaction. The very compositions of age 

 difier from those of youth. There is a solidity about 

 them which seems to say life is retreating, we have 

 much to do, and a limited season in which to ac- 

 complish it. They may lack many of the graces of 



