loth he recommended. "Why, sir," was the answer, "the Prince wears
superfine, and Mr Brummell the Bath coating. Suppose, sir, we say Bath
coating; I think Mr Brummell has a trifle the preference." Brummell's
connexion with the Prince, his former rank in the hussars, and his own
agreeable manners, introduced him to the intercourse of the principal
nobility. In the intervals of his visits to the Prince at Brighton, he
visited Belvoir, Chatsworth, Woburn, &c. But he was absolutely _once_ in
town in the month of November, as is proved by the following note from
Woburn:--

MY DEAR BRUMMELL,--By some accident, which I am unable to account
for, your letter of Wednesday did not reach me till Wednesday. I
make it a rule never to lend my box; but you have the _entree
libre_ whenever you wish to go there, as I informed the boxkeeper
last year. I hope Beauvais and you will do great execution at
Up-Park. I shall probably be there shortly after you.--Ever yours
sincerely,

"BEDFORD."

At Belvoir he was _l'ami de la famille_, and at Cheveley, another seat
of the Duke of Rutland's, his rooms were as sacred as the Duke of
York's, who was a frequent visitor there. On the Duke of Rutland's
coming of age, in 1799, great rejoicings took place at Belvoir, and
Brummell was one of the distinguished party there, among whom were the
Prince of Wales, the late Duke of Argyll, the Marquis of Lorn, and the
other chief fashionable people of the day. This _fete_ was memorable,
for it was said to have cost L.60,000. Brummell was not altogether
effeminate; he could both shoot and ride, but he liked neither: he was
never a Melton man. He said that he could not bear to have his tops and
leathers splashed by the greasy galloping farmers. The Duke of Rutland
raised a corps of volunteers on the renewal of the war in 1803; and as
Brummell had been a soldier the duke gave him a majority. In the course
of the general inspections of the volunteer corps, an officer was sent
from the Horse Guards to review the duke's regiment, the major being in
command. On the day of the inspection every one was on parade except the
major-commandant. Where is Major Brummell, was the indignant enquiry? He
was not to be found. The inspection went on. When it was near its close,
Brummell was soon coming full gallop across the country in the uniform
of the Belvoir Hunt, terribly splashed. He apologized for himself by
saying, that having le