CHAP. II.] Death of Earl Spencer. 39 



Channel, shows how little the French correspondent 

 comprehended the nature of the thing about which he 

 was writing. 



During many years of his life, Lord Spencer suffered 

 much from his hereditary enemy, gout, which, in his 

 person, defied all the resources of medical science. A 

 rigid attention to diet and regular exercise, served to 

 scotch, but could not kill the foe ; and no one more than 

 he realized the unwisdom of the lady^s maid, who declared 

 that " health, after personal appearance, is the greatest 

 blessing as is.^^ So severe was the abstinence practised 

 by him in the matter of food, that it created great 

 depression both in mind and body. He used to weigh 

 his breakfast, and then, having eaten the small portion he 

 allowed himself, would rush from the room to avoid any 

 further temptation. In the autumn of 1845, he was, 

 with Lord G. Bentinck, steward of Doncaster races. On 

 the second day of the meeting, he was seized with sudden 

 indisposition, but he rallied sufficiently to be able to join 

 his guests at dinner. Gradually the attack assumed a 

 more serious aspect, and though he was able to return 

 to Wiseton, it w^as evident that his end was rapidly 

 approaching. He prepared himself for death in the 

 calmest possible manner, had his will read out to him by 

 his brother, said, " Don't feel for me, I'm perfectly 

 happy, and the happiness I have enjoyed in this life, 

 makes me hope that it will be granted me in the next." 

 Towards five o'clock in the morning of the first of 

 October, 1845, he breathed his last, and Northampton- 

 shire lost a '^ worthy," of whom it may well be proud for 

 all time. 



Twenty masters of the Pytchley Hunt have come and 



