9G THE NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE HOUNDS. 



for I feel that even to me the removal of that noble and 

 tender spirit from the world will leave a blank place in 

 life, not to be filled up." 



Our readers will gather, from what has been already 

 said, that the present beauties of Trentham, both as 

 to the house itself and the lovely gardens and lake, 

 are due, in great measure, to the refined taste and 

 judicious expenditure of the second Duke and his Duchess. 

 Although the history of the family has been for the 

 most part uneventful, and the holders of the title have not 

 gone in for public distinction, yet it is evident that as 

 great landowners they have done their duty unosten- 

 tatiously, but well ; and if they have not striven to shine 

 as statesmen or warriors, they have dwelt among their 

 own people and have won golden opinions from their 

 neighbours and tenantry for kindness and generosity, and 

 we may say without flattery that the present Duke has 

 inherited the personal charm and kindness of heart which 

 have, in a marked degree, distinguished most of his 

 ancestors. 



The third Duke was the first of the House of Gower in 

 modern times who showed any particular love of sport, and 

 although he was never a constant follower of the hounds, 

 owing to his having many calls upon his time and attention 

 away from Staffordshire, yet he was always a liberal sup- 

 porter of the Hunt, and a generous subscriber of five hundred 

 pounds a year to the Hunt funds, and it must never be 

 forgotten that it was in his time and on his initiative that 

 the kennels at Trentham were fitted for the reception of 

 the hounds and generously lent to the Hunt, although at 

 that time the present Master was only eleven years old, 

 the hounds were under the sole management and the private 

 property of Mr. Davenport — they were not even a sub- 

 scription pack — and there was no apparent probability 

 that there would ever be any close connection between the 

 ducal family of Trentham and the management of the 

 North Staffordshire Hounds ; so that the fox-hunting 

 fraternity in North Staffordshire should never forget, or 



