Those dear destroyers of the tedious day,
That wheel of fops, that saunter of the town,
Call it diversion, and the pill goes down."
_Young_




DRAMATIS PERSONAE


For the enlightenment of those readers who have not read the previous
volumes of which the present is the continuation, it may be well to
recapitulate briefly the material with which these dealt.

In 1565 a branch of the Stanhopes came from Lancashire into Yorkshire, and
eventually settled at Horsforth, Low Hall, near Calverley Bridge, in the
latter county. During the period of the Civil Wars, a branch of the family
of Spencer migrated from the borders of Wales into Yorkshire, and in the
reign of Charles II. one of them purchased the house and land at that date
constituting the estate of Cannon Hall. In 1748 Walter Stanhope of
Horsforth united the two families by his marriage with Ann Spencer of
Cannon Hall, and their son Walter, eventually inheriting both properties
from his respective uncles, bore the name of Spencer-Stanhope.

Walter Spencer-Stanhope was for thirty-nine years a member of the House of
Commons, during which time he represented respectively Haslemere,
Carlisle, and Hull. In 1787 he married Mary Winifred Pulleine, who
inherited the estates of Roddam and Dissington in Northumberland, in trust
for her third and fourth sons. By her he had fifteen children, but his