CHAP. III.] Earl of Chesterfield, AI aster. roi 



from the cold than could be got from a coat of "^ pilot ^' 

 cloth, and a little straw for his feet. Shortly prior to 

 this, the " Growler '' and the " Hansom ^' were alike un- 

 known; and a *^ one-horse-shay^^ of any sort, when used 

 by a gentleman, carried with it a taint of ^^ infradigish- 

 ness/' The coach-stand in the street was occupied from 

 end to end by dilapidated pair-horse vehicles ; the 

 *^ omnibus " system was just putting out its feelers ; and 

 the ^^ Charleys ^^ of old had only just made way for the 

 " New Police.'" The telegraphic-wire was still among the 

 hidden things of darkness, and letters from London to 

 Northampton cost eightpence for postage. The railway- 

 egg was only in course of incubation, and the London 

 and Birmingham line had not yet burst its shell. Hunters 

 for the distant Meets were sent on over-night, and there 

 was no way of escaping the twenty mile homeward-ride 

 with a tired horse. Such was the state of things when 

 Lord Chesterfield became Master of one of the crack 

 packs of hounds of England. 



If a Hunt may bo said to be at its zenith when out- 

 lay is the predominant feature of its establishment, it 

 cannot be doubted that the P.H. touched that point 

 duriug the reign of the magnificent Lord of Bretby. 

 " Money no object'^ was the handwriting on every wall, 

 and in every stall ; and it is probable that a finer lot of 

 horses were never got together than were to be found at 

 Brixworth between the years 1838 and 1841. Himself 

 the glass of fashion, if not quite the mould of form, the 

 noble Master determined that everything should be 

 carried out in accordance with the usual style of his 

 expenditure at Bretby and elsewhere ; and nothing was 

 omitted to make the entourage perfect at every point. 



