1 46 The Pytchley Hunt^ Past and Present, [chap. iv. 



condition tliat it never was allowed to leave the county^ 

 or pass into other hands than those of the Lords of 

 Althorp. 



To the great regret of all the county_, and indeed, of 

 all huntiig-men, Mr. Payne resigned the Mastership of 

 the " P.H.^^ in 1848, and having done so was scarcely 

 ever seen again at the cover-side. He would inquire 

 how things were going on in the old county, and liked 

 to hear of any notable run, but he never cared again to 

 join in the sport. 



One of the greatest of speculators, he never tried the 

 grand speculation of all of entering a married life, and 

 whether he took warning from the man who declared 

 " that his wife had doubled the expenses of life, 

 and halved the pleasures,^^ or whether, like a Bishop 

 Whately, he looked upon women as '^ interesting 

 creatures who never reason, and poke the fire atop," it 

 does not seem that at any time of his life he seriously 

 contemplated matrimony. 



AVhat he might have become had he been suitably 

 mated, who can tell ? To those who knew him best there 

 arise visions of a country gentleman, leader of society, 

 Master of hounds, Chairman of Quarter Sessions, 

 Member of Parliament, possessing everything that makes 

 life desirable, including a popularity probably un- 

 equalled. But it was not so to be. Left to float 

 alone on a sea never at rest ; tossed hither and thither 

 on the waves of never-ceasing excitement, he became 

 a noble derelict, rescued by friendly salvors from utter 

 shipwreck. 



On the 10th of August, 1878, at Lewes Races, he was 

 attacked by a paralytic seizure, from which he never 



