Sir William returned for answer, that he might accept of it ; and in- 

 siriicted IJcseltiiie to be si/i-c to deceive his competitor, by letting Merlin 

 carry seven pounds more zceight, than that agreed upon, and at the same 

 time, laying a particular injunction to secrecy. Soon alter Heseltine re- 

 ceived this hint, he consented to the proposal ; hut previous thereto, 

 Mr. Frampton had given his groom similar instructions. The two 

 Horses were prepared, started, and ran over the course agreed to in 

 the articles of the match; when Merlin beat his antagonist something 

 more than a length of excellent running. This being communicated 

 to each party by their secret and faithful grooms, who both rode the 

 trial, flattered each with certain success. Merlin's friends observing, 

 that as he had beat the other with seven pounds more weight, he would 

 win his race easily. On the other hand, says Mr. Frampton, as my 

 Horse ran Merlin so near, with seven pounds extra weight, he will win 

 this race to a certaint5^ Immediately after, proposals were made on 

 both sides, to an enormous amount, and accepted ; and it has been 

 asserted, that there was more money betted on this event, than was ever 

 known, gentlemen not only staking all the cash they were able to ad- 

 vance, but their other property also. At length the important hour 

 arrived for the determination of this great event, and each party flushed 

 with the prospect of success ; the South-country gentlemen observed to 

 those of the North, that ' they would bet them gold, while gold they had, 

 and then they might sell their land. The Horses started, and the race 

 was won by Merlin, by about the same distance as in the secret trial. 

 In a short time after, it became known, to the mortification of its in- 

 ventor, Tregonwell Frampton, Esq." 



The authenticity of the above facts, has, I believe, never been dis- 

 puted. However wide of the fair and allowable, in the stratagems of 

 sporting, such manoeuvres as the above must be deemed by all men of 

 honourable feeling, it is yet difficult to blame the counter-plot of the 

 North-country Baronet. This example points strongly to the fact of 

 sporting gentlemen being much in the })ower of their servants, and de- 

 monstrates the necessity of the former having themselves, an intimate 

 practical acquaintance with that extremely precarious business in which 

 they are engaged. It may also serve as a mark of distinction between 



the 



