THE BUILDERS OF BELVOIR 



present Marquis and a distinguished soldier — and Goosey 

 were at the finish. The fox was dug out and killed after a 

 ten-mile point, which was very fast if the time is correctly 

 given, for from the start to the time the fox went to ground 

 is said to have been two hours. The following season a mis- 

 fortune befell the pack. An epidemic broke out and the old 

 hounds were scarcely fit by the time the season's work began, 

 and being out of condition they tired before foxes, and went 

 out no less than fifteen times without blood. The following 

 season, 1824-25, was remarked for the badness of the foxes. 



Belvoir received a great blow in 1825 by the death of the 

 Duchess Elizabeth, a misfortune which was greatly felt in the 

 district. Few women have filled a great position more satis- 

 factorily than she did. She thoroughly appreciated the 

 advantages which Providence had given her, and that she 

 was magnificent in her ideas the pile of Belvoir itself is a 

 witness. But none the less was she a woman with a tender 

 heart and a sympathetic soul, and her death was a great loss 

 to her poorer neighbours, to whom she had ever been a kindly 

 helper. A great position does not excite the envy of the less 

 richly endowed, when those who occupy it are not unworthy 

 to fill it ; but it is when the wearers of the coronets of Great 

 Britain degrade the names and titles which are a part of the 

 history of their race that men will resent the discrepancy, 

 which strikes them almost as a personal affront. Vulgarity — 

 even though it seek to hide itself under the cover of smart- 

 ness — folly and heartlessness in our natural leaders will thus 

 always be resented by the stern critics of a lower social class. 

 But the Duchess Elizabeth not only lived up to the require- 

 ments of her station, but she left behind her sons and 

 daughters worthy to carry on the great traditions of the two 

 noble houses from which they sprang. The eldest son was 

 destined to become one of the most justly popular noblemen 

 and country gentlemen of his day, and the younger to make 

 a name which does not belong to this book, only because its 

 place is in the wider story of the growth and development 

 of our Empire in the nineteenth century. 



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