300 THE OLD BERKS HUNT 



failing health. From July, 1845, ^^ March, 

 1846, he was absent from England, having 

 taken office as Minister of the Interior in 

 Belgium ; but he was not replaced during that 

 time in London, a Charge d'Affaires carrying 

 on the business of the legation. The re- 

 mainder of his life he spent in England. He 

 married the daughter of the late Mr. Joshua 

 Bates, U.S.A., who became a naturalised British 

 citizen. After his death in London, in 1874, 

 his old University of Louvain honoured the 

 memory of the patriot and diplomatist by the 

 erection of a bronze statue, which stands on a 

 conspicuous site in front of the railway station 

 at Louvain. His son, Mr. Victor Van de 

 Weyer, who was educated at Eton, married 

 Emily, youngest daughter of the second Earl of 

 Craven, and sister to the late Master. He 

 had occupied, for some years, for hunting 

 purposes, Kingston Lisle House, the seat of 

 the Martin-Atkins family. 



The late Lord Craven left his hounds to 

 Lady Craven, with the expression of a wish 

 that she might place them at the service of the 

 Old Berks Hunt. Nobly has she given effect 

 to this kindly wish. The hounds were pur- 

 chased by her from Lord Craven's executors, 

 at a valuation by the present Duke of Beau- 

 fort, and placed at the disposal of the new 



