44 FAMOUS RACING MEN. 



for 1,000 guineas, each riding his own horse, and won. His jockey- 

 sliip on that occasion was superb, and it was admitted after this 

 tliat he had no equal as a cool and resolute horseman Across the 

 Ylniy as he had long since proved in the hunting-field that he 

 had no superior over a country. 



It was about this time that an incident happened to him which 

 probably affected the whole of his after life, and made of him the 

 cynical 7'oue that he subse(juently became. He fell deeply in love 

 with Miss Pelham, the daughter of Mr. Pelham, then Secretary of 

 State, and niece of the Duke of Newcastle. The lady reciprocated 

 his affection, and the young earl proposed for her hand ; but tx) his 

 astonishment, and indeed to the general astonishment of society, 

 his suit w^as rejected by Miss Pelham 's parents ; whether on account 

 of his not being at that time in possession of the immense fortune 

 to which he afterwards succeeded, or because of the " gaiety" of his 

 private life, it is now impossible to decide. The affair created what 

 would in the present day be called " the sensation of the season" 

 among the " Upper Ten Thousand," and it is a noteworthy fact that 

 both the lady and her rejected suitor remained single to the day of 

 their deaths. Had they been allowed to marry who can doubt but 

 that the unquestionable talents and the vast wealth of the future 

 Duke of Queensberry would have been devoted to worthier objects 

 and have procured him a more reputable fame ? 



But to return to the sporting career of our hero. Probably most 

 persons have heard of his famous bet that he would have a letter 

 conveyed fifty miles within an hour, and how he won it by the 

 ingenious device of enclosing the missive in a cricket-ball which 

 was thrown round a circle from hand to hand by twenty-four expert 

 throwers. But another incident in his turf career is, we fancy, less 

 generally kno\Mi. Shortly after the carriage feat, to which we have 

 just referred, Lord March matched a bay colt of his own against the 

 celebrated Pot-8-os, then the property of an Irish nobleman, who 

 was one of the most notorious fire-eaters and successful duellists of 

 his time, and of whom it was told that he once flung an impudent 

 waiter through a window, and when remonstrated with by the 



landlord, coolly said, " D n your eyes, sir, charge for the fellow 



in the bill." In the course of the race Lord March's jockey con- 

 trived to slip his weights oft", and they were picked up by a 

 confederate and slipped back before returning to weigh in. The 

 owner of Pot-8-os, however, had keen eyes; he detected the little 

 game, seized Lord March's jockey by the shoulder, and swore he 

 would horsewhip him within an inch of his life if he did not confess 

 at whose instigation the fraud had been practised. The terrified 

 jockey nmmbled out something which seemed to implicate his 

 master, whereupon the owner of Pot-8-os taxed Lord March with the 

 offence. His lordship made a haughty and oontemptuous reply, which 

 irritated the hot-tempered Irishman, and the result was a challenge 

 from the latter. A hostile meeting was duly arranged for the lOth 



