294 HUNTING TOURS. 



by the invigorating effects of the chase, was 

 prolonged to the patriarchal age of 83 ; but 

 his successor died young, and left his son a 

 minor, during which period a committee was 

 appointed to conduct the hunting arrange- 

 ments till his Grace came of age. In the year 

 1831, the mastership was undertaken by Lord 

 Forester, a nobleman whose ancestors had so 

 greatly distinguished themselves as to render 

 all the highest attributes of the chase inheri- 

 tances. The late Lord Forester, one of the 

 finest horsemen that ever crossed Leicester- 

 shire, imparted the same excellencies to his 

 son, and the superlative judgment of Squire 

 Forester, of Willey, in all matters relative to 

 hounds and hunting, was another of the family 

 qualities which his lordship cultivated by that 

 most important mentor, experience. Under 

 his lordship's able management for more than 

 a quarter of a century, the Belvoir pack has 

 been brought to its very high state of per- 

 fection. No hound not quite true in symmetry 

 would he ever permit to be entered, and 

 then, unless they were good in their work, 

 they were speedily drafted. On the Duke of 

 Rutland coming to the title in 1857, Lord 

 Forester resigned the trust to his Grace, who, 



