THE HISTORY OF THE BELVOIR HUNT 



best general mental equipment the world has yet invented 

 for the battle of life. But there is undoubtedly an hereditary 

 love of letters in the Manners family, and this, unless the old 

 Latin grammar tag is greatly in error, may have something 

 to do with the charm of manner that makes the family name 

 almost an heraldic pun on the characteristics of the race. 



But in spite of the taste for the classics that he had, it is 

 not likely that Lord Granby was a profound scholar, for he 

 was always a man of action. In the intervals of those 

 studies, which certainly at no time absorbed him, he en- 

 tered heartily into the sports that his fortunate position 

 as the heir of Belvoir and Haddon threw open to him. 

 By the time he was of age, the family had finally chosen 

 Belvoir as their headquarters, and it was there that Lord 

 Granby made the acquaintance of those hounds which in 

 after days he was to do so much to render famous. Yet 

 hunting was to him never more than a pastime, for the whole 

 bent of his life was to a career of service and ambition. The 

 great families which in those days still ruled England had 

 reached their position and upheld their power by a con- 

 tinual tradition of service, for while the head of the family 

 kept the threads of the social and political influence of the 

 house in the country and in London, the younger members 

 went almost as a matter of course into the King's service. 

 Nor were the careers they followed mere interludes in a life 

 devoted to private interests or to pleasure. They took their 

 professions seriously, and served in the Army, Navy, or 

 politics for the best years of their life. They expected 

 and received as a right rapid promotion, for which their 

 hereditary habit of command fitted them. The plan 

 worked well, for the labours and responsibilities of the life 

 weeded out the idle and incompetent, thus giving to the 

 English service commanders at an age when their vigour 

 and activity were at their best. 



It is impossible to conceive a better preparation than that 

 of Lord Granby for the laborious and useful life he was to 

 lead. In this preparation it is interesting to note how per- 

 fectly proportioned were the elements of heredity, of learn- 



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