SEASON 1874-75 65 



twenty-seven seasons did tlie Right Hon. John 

 George Weld, 2nd Lord Forester, rule over the Bel- 

 voir, acting as a warming-pan between the master- 

 ships of two Dukes of Rutland, retiring in 1857. 

 His mastership dated back to the palmy days of 

 fox-hunting ; he was the very centre of a brilliant 

 group of sportsmen, and most impatient of the 

 presence in the field of town-bred sportsmen. Lord 

 Forester rode out all his time, and towards the last 

 had to be helped into the saddle, but once in it he 

 could go with the best. No man ever had a better 

 innings at hunting, for he dropped into the master- 

 ship of the best pack at a most favourable period, 

 held it for an unusual length of time, and made 

 the most of it. The hunting spirit has run high 

 among the Foresters for centuries, and he was one 

 of the last of the old school of aristocrats of whom 

 Thackeray's Esmonds were a type. On his marriage 

 with Lady Melbourne, widow of the Hon. Frederic 

 Lamb, created Lord Beauvale, he was presented 

 by the Belvoir Hunt with a splendid piece of plate, 

 representing a fox in a tree, with figures of the 

 leading members of the hunt grouped round, 

 an incident which occurred in Croxton Park, 

 1851, also depicted by Sir Francis Grant, R.A. 

 On the reverse side were the names of the sub- 

 scribers — the Duke of Rutland, Marquis of Granby, 

 Earl Winchilsea, Lord John Manners, Lord George 

 INIanners, Lord Willoughby de Eresby, Lady 

 INIarion Alford, Right Hon. R. A. C. Nisbet 

 Hamilton, Sir. J. C. Thorold, Sir T. Whichcote, 

 Sir M. J. Cholmeley, Sir Glynne Earle Welby, Sir 



