THE DUKE AS MASTER 



Doncaster. I suspect the Leger horses were none of them 

 a gaudy lot. Sir Joseph Hawley did not trust his horse until 

 the night before the race, and then only for a small sum. 



" Racing is decidedly on the decline. It is no longer a 

 gentleman's amusement. Half the owners of race-horses 

 dare not place their names to them. 



" We had a fine rain here last night ; to-day it is blowing 

 a gale of wind. I hope we shall have another downfall as 

 soon as the wind ceases. 



" I think we must have plenty of foxes in the Folkingham 

 Gorses, provided the proprietor of the land around them and 

 his keeper allow the coverts to remain quiet. Newton Gorse 

 from all accounts ought to present a beautiful sight to the 

 eye of a fox-hunter. I am told Mr. Doughty states that he 

 saw nine foxes all outside the covert together. 



"Thos. Whichcote. 



" Give me one line to say whether Wednesday will suit 



I) 



you. 



A letter, which for obvious reasons I do not print, was 

 written in October of that year to request that certain coverts 

 may not be drawn, as they are to be closed during November 

 and December for shooting purposes. This letter was for- 

 warded to Sir Thomas Whichcote and drew the following 

 answer from him. 



"AswARBY Park, 



" November 21s f, 1 869. 

 " Cooper, — 



" I was very sorry to hear of your accident. I trust you 

 will soon be able to shake off the ill effects of it. The knee 

 is a nasty joint to have anything the matter with it. 



"The poor Aswarby fox was shockingly badly managed. 

 I shall not entrust the next commercial gent to an amateur. 



" You would hear that nothing could be more brutal than 

 the treatment it was subjected to at the hands of those 

 blackguard Ropsley people. 



" Thank you for enclosing 's letter. I am truly sorry 



to think that the writer of it was a grandson of a master 



269 



