A FEW DAYS IN THE VALE OF BERKELEY. BY LORD WILLIAM LENNOX. (Concluded.) Scarcely had our last remarks been written, before a pamphlet, from the talented pen of the Hon. Grantley Fitzhardinge Berkeley, M.P., was placed in my hands; and I cannot refrain from quoting his sentiments upon the subject, which, according to my ideas, reflect the very greatest credit upon his head and heart. * "I love to see the blood of the acres circulate through domestic veins, and return again to the full furrows whence it commenced its flow. I may be forgiven an honest pride in witnessing this at Berkeley Castle. I love to see the yeoman, whose forefathers have been tenants for more than a century on the same land, out in the fields with the hounds of his landlord; and I delight in seeing the poor running with happy faces by my side, and trying with me who shall be first over the hedge after my greyhounds. It is good to see the people enjoying themselves side by side with the gentleman. It is beneficial to each, and I think now, as I have thought before, that the amusements of the lower classes are interfered with too much. * * There is something rich and racy to me in the open-heartedness, good fellowship, and joy of woodcraft, where man may meet his fellow man in active emulation, without the restraints imposed by the calmer and more studied rules of society. If you destroy the scenes of these pleasures which bring the landlord and tenant, the rich and poor together, or weaken them so that you keep the aristocracy away; if you take from society such opportunities of making its classes more intimately known to each other, if you make still wider the ruinous severance which too often exists between the well-wrapped owner of the soil and the shivering hands that plough its furrows, I say that you achieve a monstrous injury for all classes of her Majesty's subjects, which cannot be too utterly condemned." To resume. The interior of the Castle, despite of its age, is as warm and comfortable as any modern-built house; and one thing struck me particularly, namely, the extreme attention of the numerous domestics, who, to adopt a saying of the witty Rochester to my merry-hearted ancestor Charles the Second," are never in the way, or out of it when wanted." The homely phrase of "A place for everything, and everything in its place," and which is written up upon the farm buildings at Gordon Castle, is fully realized at the castle I have been describing. Nothing can exceed the splendour of the dinners, which combine all the substantial cookery of the old baronial times with the gastronomic luxuries of the present day. Upon the sideboard may be seen the cold collation, consisting of the huge baron of beef, the venison pasty, the goose pie, the pig's-face, the hare pie, the brawn, the ham, the capon, the pheasant, worthy of a feast in the olden time of Robin Hood and his merry foresters; while, upon the table we recognise two first-rate soups, four dishes of fish, four excellent entrées, two flanks, the noble haunch, the magnificent joint, game, wild ducks, entremets, &c. &c., and all produced (as the play-bills say) " under the immediate direction of one of the most distinguished artists of the day," Monsieur Guerin. During a rambling life, it has fallen to my lot to partake of the hospitalities of many distinguished houses at home and abroad. I have had the honour of dining with Louis XVIII. at the Tuilleries, Versailles, and St. Cloud; with Charles X., the Dukes D'Angoulème and de Berri at their respective chateaux; with the late Emperor of Russia, at the reviews; with the Emperor of Austria, at Vienna; with the late King of Holland, at the Hague; with that truly popular monarch William IV. at the Pavilion at Brighton; and with her present Majesty, at Windsor Castle; and, with the exception of the latter banquet, in St. George's Hall, I have never witnessed any entertainment that could come up to that of the castle I have been describing. In the dining-room is a splendid specimen of modern workmanship, in silver, representing the fatal combat between the seventh Lord of Berkeley and his relative Talbot Viscount Lisle. The cause of the quarrel is thus given in Playfair's "Family Antiquity" :— "Upon the Countess of Shrewsbury's death, Thomas Talbot Viscount Lisle succeeded to her claim of right to Berkeley Castle; and, having failed in the several underhand methods and stratagems he made use of to get possession thereof, at last sent the Marquis* a challenge, requiring him "of knighthood and manhood to appoint a day, and to meet him half-way, to try their quarrel and title, to eschew the shedding of Christian blood; or to bring the same day to the utmost of his power." Unto which, the Marquis returned an answer in writing : "That he would meet him on the morrow at Nybly Green, by eight or nine o'clock, which standeth (saith he) on the borders of the Liverode, that thou keepest untruly from me." They accordingly met, and the Viscount Lisle's vizor being up, he was slain. The breakfast, which is an independent meal, and carried on from eight o'clock upwards, until time to go out shooting or hunting, quite comes up to Moore's description: "There, Dick, what a breakfast! O, not like your ghost Of a breakfast in England, your tea and your toast; But a side-board, you dog, where one's eye roves about One's pâté of game, just to tune up the throat; Or one's kidneys-imagine, Dick-done with champagne!" In this room there is a fine picture of Lord Fitzhardinge, the Hon. Augustus Berkeley, John Austin, Esq., and others, representing the principal characters in "Julius Cæsar." The scene is the one in which the "great Cæsar" has fallen beneath the daggers of the * William Lord Berkeley being created Viscount Berkeley 21 Edward IV., and two years after made a Privy Councillor. He was in like favour with Richard III., who made him Earl of Nottingham; but, he entering into the interest of the Lancastrians, and joining the Duke of Buckingham in endeavouring to dethrone King Richard, was forced to fly into Brittany, to Henry Earl of Richmond; by whom, after he had mounted the throne, he was constituted Earl Marshal of England, and in 1488 was created Marquis of Berkeley."-MAGNA BRITANNIA ANTIQUA ET NOVA. conspirators, the noble owner of Berkeley Castle and his brother Augustus as Brutus and Mark Anthony, are in the act of delivering those splendid passages beginning "O, mighty Cæsar! dost thou lie so low? Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils, and ending with the lines of Brutus— "Prepare the body, and then follow us." Our readers need scarcely be reminded, that under the auspices of Lord Fitzhardinge, the amateur theatricals were carried on at Cheltenham, Gloucester, Tewkesbury, Birmingham, Guildford, Worthing, Richmond, and, upon one occasion, at the Queen's Theatre, London, with the very greatest success. Some of the best of the bard of Avon's plays were put upon the stage in a manner that could not be equalled upon the metropolitan boards. Witness the performances of "Othello," "King John," "Julius Cæsar," "Henry IV.," while others were equally successful, namely, "A New Way to pay Old Debts," "Pizarro," " Catherine and Petruchio," "Heirat-Law,' ""Bold stroke for a Wife," "The Wonder," "Follies of a Day," "Roland for an Oliver," "Simpson and Co.," "Lady and the Devil," "Mayor of Garratt,"&c. Among other relics in the Castle are the play-bills of every amateur performance at Cheltenham. Some years hence this will be a valuable work. There is also a painting representing the celebrated affray with poachers that took place on the night of the 18th of January, 1816; in which one of Lord Fitzhardinge's keepers, William Ingram, was killed. As the particulars of this celebrated affair may have been forgotten by many of our readers, we give an account of it, as taken from the coroner's inquest and trial:-" On Feb. 1 were committed to Gloucester gaol John Penny, late of the parish of Hill, in Gloucestershire, charged with the wilful murder of one William Ingram in the night of the 18th ult.; and John Allen, William Penny, Thomas Collins, Daniel Long, John Reeves, John Burley, James Jenkins, Thomas Morgan, James Roach, and William Greenaway, severally charged with having feloniously been present at the said murder. Greenaway and Burley were afterwards admitted king's evidence. The trial commenced about nine o'clock on Tuesday morning, April 9, at the Booth Hall, Gloucester, before Mr. Justice Holroyd. Scarcely ever did any criminal trial excite more interest than the present. Eleven young men, nine of whom were farmers' sons, and respectably connected, the youngest nineteen, and the oldest not more than thirty years of age, led on in the clandestine pursuit of game, to the destruction of human life, and, consequently, making their lives dependent upon the decision of a Court of Justice, could not but create an interest of the highest degree in the feelings of the public. The chief witnesses deposed to the following facts:-Thomas Clark, park-keeper to Earl Fitzhardinge, stated, that on the evening of the 18th of January last, he and his man went to the Round-house at the end of the Round-house Wood, where they met seventeen other keepers (seven of them belonging to his employer, and twelve to Lord Ducie), between eleven and twelve o'clock at night. His men had been out many other nights, and he had been out ten or twelve nights in December. One of the keepers communicated something which induced him to leave the Round-house almost immediately. They were all without arms. They had short sticks in their hands, and went altogether across the Bowling Green to the wicket-gate leading to Catgrove. There they separated into two parties, nine remaining with him. His party went to Catgrove, where he shortly heard a gun fired. They then pulled off their great coats, when he went up the main ride opposite to the gate. After proceeding a little way, he saw a number of men in a road to the lett. Ingram was then close behind him, and the poachers about twenty yards from them. He saw them by peeping round the corner, and said to Ingram in a low voice' Here's a lane full of them.' On his speaking, the poachers began to form in a line,and said,' Hist, hist!' as if they had observed him or his party approach. One man to the right was very active in forming the poachers in line, who now advanced two or three deep. Witness did not say anything until a gun was fired: he then stepped into the middle of the ride, and said, ‘Huzza, my boys, fight like men!' The poachers still kept moving towards him, and he retreated a little to the right, keeping about the same distance from the poachers, to leave room for his party to come up to him. The poachers were about fifteen yards from him when a second gun was fired, which took effect upon William Ingram. A third was fired within a very few seconds, a single shot from which struck witness on the inside of the right thigh. The body of poachers then made a rush forward towards witness, one of them striking him on the left shoulder, either with a stick or his fist, as he was turning his head to look for the rest of his party, who were then coming up the main ride. The poachers came close up, went over Ingram, passed witness, and turned the corner into the main ride. When the poachers passed him, they were fronted by the keepers. A cluster of five or six guns were then fired together. After this the two parties were intermixed, but the keepers appeared to be running in all directions, the poachers keeping altogether. An outcry was made by some of the keepers, when he saw one man, Davis, lay down on the right of the ride, apparently dead. The poachers advanced down the ride, and, as still they pushed on, he heard a man cry Glory, glory!' When they were gone, he stood to see who were wounded, and only found Davis and Ingram. gun "William Greenaway (who had turned King's evidence), said he was one of the persons who were with the poachers. Allen, whom he had known for seven years, came to him upon the Sunday before the 18th January, and asked him if he would go out poaching; said there was a party going out, and desired witness to get some person to go with him. They were to meet on Lord Fitzhardinge's, or Miss Langley's liberty. Witness went to John Penny's house, and told him what Allen had said. Did not learn till the 18th at what time they were to go out; on the evening of that day Allen asked him if he would go out that night, and told him to come up a quarter before nine o'clock. The party met at Allen's house, where ammu nition was produced, and the guns distributed among the poachers. They then had their faces blacked, and their hats chalked. Something was then said about an oath not to peach on each other,' and some person said that Brodribb should swear them. Brodribb, who was an attorney, then swore them solemnly upon a book not to 'peach upon each other.' The witness then corroborated Thomas Clark's evidence, adding that John Penny fired the second shot, which took effect upon the keeper; and that upon witness picking up the butt of a gun, which John Penny claimed as his, the latter said, 'Now Tom Till's debt is paid!' Till had been killed by a spring-gun on Lord Ducie's liberty, a little before. The learned judge then commenced summing up the evidence, the recital of which occupied four hours. The jury then retired, and, after a deliberation of about two hours, brought in their verdict, by which John Penny was found guilty of the murder; and all the other prisoners guilty of aiding and assisting therein; but they recommended to mercy all except John Penny and John Allen. The sentence passed upon the two latter was carried into effect on Saturday, April 13." Brodribb, who was tried at the same assizes for administering, or causing to be administered, a certain oath or engagement, purporting to bind William Greenaway, and others, not to reveal or discover an unlawful combination and confederacy, was found guilty, and sentenced to seven years' transportation. In his defence he declared that Greenaway had confessed to him that it was he who had shot the keeper. To resume our narrative-and here we are again indebted to the Honourable Grantley Berkeley for the following statement:"At Berkeley there are eight head-keepers, twenty underkeepers, and thirty additional night watchers. To speak in round numbers, there are sixty men employed in nothing else than the care of the game and deer. In addition to these, during the winter, there are a number of men employed at the shooting parties, as beaters for game. Now, in addition to the employment and comfortable subsistence thus afforded to so many men and their families by the preservation of a large head of game alone, if you add the immense number of grooms and helpers, a huntsman, whippers-in, and kennelmen, necessary to the care and condition of from fifty to sixty hunters, besides other horses, and from eighty to a hundred couple of foxhounds, besides other dogs-let any man imagine the amount of wages expended on such species of labours, and then reflect on the misery which would arise if all these men and their families were deprived of their employment and subsistence. There are other men attached to establishments of this sort-such as men for the decoys of wild fowl, and for the fisheries. The game, the kennel, and stable, the decoy, and the river, afford to the rich man recreation for every leisure hour, with the grateful fact before him, that in his enjoyment of every one of these good old English recreations, he has it in his power, and, indeed, he must contribute to the comfort and happiness of the poor." The hounds had returned to the Berkeley kennels, from Cheltenham, upon the 9th of December, after having enjoyed one of the most brilliant months ever experienced. During the month of No |