CHAP. I.] Lord Alt Jiorp's Master shijb. 17 



the man wlio could not quietly dispose of three bottles of 

 old port was not held in much esteem as a boon com- 

 panion ; nor did the seasoned soaker see any necessity 

 for drawing a line at three bottles^ as we learn from an 

 anecdote of the times, in which it is stated that a lady, 

 hearing a gentleman say that '^ he had finished his third 

 bottle '^ of port after dinner, asked in some surprise : 

 '^ What^ sir ! unassisted ? ^^ ^^ Oh, no^ ma'am/' was the 

 answer, " I was assisted by a bottle of Madeira ! '^ In 

 these days we can scarcely believe that the greatest 

 statesman of his own and perhaps of any time, as he 

 entered the House of Commons one night, declared to 

 the friend by his side that "he saw two Speakers ! '' and 

 that he did this sans peur et sans reproche ! 



Never did country have a more efficient Master than 

 John, Viscount Althorp, who, politics notwithstanding, 

 devoted himself heart and soul to his new duties. For 

 eight months out of the twelve he was constantly with his 

 hounds; and he spared no expense nor trouble in the 

 improvement of the pack, the size of which he thought it 

 wise to reduce. A bold and determined rider, heedless 

 of the convenient gate, and with no sort of knowledge of 

 the whereabouts of " Shuffler's bottom,'"' his song to his 

 hounds ever was, " Where thou goest I will go.'' Posting 

 horses at convenient distances on the road, he would 

 frequently ride from Spencer House, St. James's, to 

 Pytchley, for the next day's hunting. Though a cou- 

 rageous, he was by no means a polished, horseman ; and 

 a loose seat brought with it many a fall that might have 

 been avoided. So frequently did he dislocate his shoulder 

 that he sent one of his whips to the Northampton Infir- 

 mary to be instructed how to put it in. So liable did 



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