148 THE SQUIRE MEMBER FOR WEJfLOCE:. 



stood that whilst passionately fond of the pleasures 

 of the chase, he was not unmindful of the duties of 

 his position. Willey was the centre of the sporting 

 country we haye described ; but it was also con- 

 tiguous to a district remarkable for its manufacturing 

 activity — for its iron works, its pot works, and its 

 brick works, the proprietors of which, no less than 

 the agricultural portion of the population, felt that 

 they had an interest in questions of "legislation. 

 Mr. Forester considered that whatever concerned 

 his neighbourhood and his country concerned him, 

 and his influence and popularity in the borough led 

 to his taking upon himself the duty of representing 

 it in Parliament. There was about the temper of 

 the times something more suited to the temperament 

 of a country gentleman than at present, and a member 

 of Parliament was less bound to his constituents. 

 His duties as a representative sat much more lightly, 

 whilst the pugnacious elements of the nation gene- 

 rally were such that when Mr. Forester entered 

 upon public life there was nearly as much excite- 

 ment in the House of Commons — and not unlike in 

 kind — as was to be found in the cockpit or the 

 hunting-field. 



As long as Mr. Forester could remember, parties 



