THE GOLDEN AGE 



as to sink criticism in admiration ; and altogether, with its 

 terraces and towers, its woods and hills, and its boundless 

 prospect over a rich and fertile country, it is a very noble 

 possession. The Duke lives here for three or four months, 

 from the end of October till the end of February or March, 

 on and off, and the establishment is kept up with extra- 

 ordinary splendour. In the morning we are roused by the 

 strains of martial music, and the band (of his regiment of 

 militia) marches round the terrace awakening or quickening 

 the guests with lively airs. All the men hunt or shoot. At 

 dinner there is a different display of plate every day, and in 

 the evening some play at whist or amuse themselves as they 

 please, and some walk about the staircases and corridors to 

 hear the band, which plays the whole evening in the hall. 

 On the Duke's birthday there was a great feast in the Castle ; 

 two hundred people dined in the servants' hall alone, without 

 counting the other tables. We were about forty at dinner. 

 When the cloth was removed, Esterhazy proposed his 

 Grace's health, who has always a speech prepared in which 

 he returns thanks. This time it was more simple than usual, 

 and not at all bad. To-night there is a ball for the servants, 

 which could not take place on the real birthday, as it fell on 

 a Saturday. . . . 



" BelvOIR, January Wi. 



"There was a ball for all the servants and tenants on 

 Monday, which the Duke of Rutland opened with Lady 

 Georgina Fane, and the Duke of Wellington followed with 

 Lady Brownlow. Yesterday half the people went to Belton ; 

 it was nearly impossible to get any talk with the Duke. . . . 

 To-day I have been all over this Castle ; the arrangements 

 are admirable, and the order and cleanliness of every part of 

 the offices and the magnitude of the establishment are very 

 remarkable, and such as I have never seen elsewhere." ^ 



But all these splendid people were of small consequence 

 in that happy society, which found the healthiest of pleasures 

 in the hunting field. When Goosey left. Lord Forester chose 



^ Greville Memoirs^ 2nd edition, vol. iii., pp. 46, 47, 48. 

 155 



