The Hon. Frederick Viltiers Mastership. 157 



all active exercise^ and he was compelled to resign a 

 post the occupation of which he seemed thoroughly to 

 enjoy. 



THE HON. FREDERICK VILLIERS. 



The difficulty of finding a successor to Lord Alford 

 was soon happily overcome, the Hon. Frederick Yilliers 

 undertaking to fill the vacant office. The purchase of 

 Sulby Hall and the estate from Mr. George Payne 

 having given Mr. Villiers the position of a county 

 proprietor^ it would have been impossible to find a more 

 suitable Master for the P.H. An elegant, though not 

 powerful hoi^eman like his father. Lord Jersey, Mr. 

 Villiers rode well to hounds, and from invariably eschew- 

 ing horses with no manners, he was certain to form one 

 of the front rank during a good thing. Holdings his 

 field well in hand, he never failed to give the doer of 

 mischief " a bit of his mind/' but never exceeded the 

 rights of his position, nor made a too constant remon- 

 strance. An excellent man of business, the new owner 

 of Sulby threw himself thoroughly into all county mat- 

 ters, and never permitted pleasure to take the precedence 

 of duty. Two years, however, saw the completion of a 

 first term of office as M.F.H. ; and at the end of 1852, 

 the P.H. was once more filling the role of " flock without 

 a shepherd.'^ 



LORD HOPETOUN. 



At a time when it seemed there would be some diffi- 

 culty in procuring a successor to Mr. F. Yilliers for the 



