THE MARQUIS AND THE SQUIRE 139 



among our manners since then. How sad it is that 

 we are not now content to call upon Providence to 



Bless the squire and his relations 

 And keep us in our proper stations ; 



but are all too intent upon ' getting on,' to defer to 

 rank, or take a spell at the delightful occupations of 

 tuft-hunting and boot-licking ! Even in those days 

 this horrid decadence had begun to manifest itself, as 

 you will see by the story of this same Marquis and 

 Mr. Assheton Smith of Tedworth Park. Mr. Smith 

 could (as the saying goes) have ' bought up ' the 

 impoverished Marquis of Winchester several times 

 over, and not have felt any strain upon his resources. 

 Moreover, he was a Squire of great consideration in 

 these parts, and as Master of the Tedworth Hunt, 

 something of a rival in importance. For which 

 things, and more, the Marquis hated him, and on one 

 occasion took an opportunity of reproving him publicly 

 before the whole field, in the fine fiorid language of 

 which he had so ready a command. Possibly Mr. 

 Smith had committed the unpardonable indignity of 

 showing my lord the way over a particularly stiff 

 fence he was hesitating at. At any rate the language 

 of the Premier Marquis was violent, and contained 

 some reference to the disparity between their 

 respective ranks. But the S(|uire was ready with his 

 retort. He said, ' Anyhow, I'd sooner be a rich 

 Squire than a poor Marquis ! ' The field smiled, 

 because the reduced circumstances of the Marquis of 

 Winchester had been notorious ever since his father 

 had been secretly buried at midnight in the family 



