LORD (lEOKGE BENTINCK. 69 



hehalf of the great interests of the country, had won that paramount 

 and Olympic stake, to gain which had been the object of his life. He 

 had nothing to console him and nothing to sustain liim, except his 

 pride. Even that deserted him before a heart, which he knew at 

 least could yield him sympathy. He gave a sort of superb groan — 



" ' All my life I have been trying for this, and for what have I 

 sacrificed it !' he murmured. 



" It was in vain to offer solace. 



" ' You do not know what the Derby is,' he moaned out. 



« ' Yes, I do ; it is the Blue Kiband of the turf.' 



" ' It is the Blue Riband of the tm-f,' he slowly repeated to himself, 

 and sitting down at the table buried himself in a folio of statistics. 



"But on Monday, the 29th, when the resolution in favour of a 10s. 

 differential duty for the colonies had, at the last moment, been 

 carried, and carried by his casting vote, ' the Blue Ribands of the 

 turf ' were all forgotten. Not for all the honours and successes of 

 all the meetings, spring or autumn, Newmarket, Epsom, Goodwood, 

 Doncaster, would he have exchanged that hour of rapture. His eyes 

 sparkled with fire, his nostrils dilated with triumph, his brow was elate 

 like a conqueror, his sanguine spirit saw a future of continued and 

 illimitable success. 



" * We have saved the colonies,' he said, ' saved the colonies. I 

 knew it must be so. It is the knell of free trade.' " 



Four months later, on the 21st of September, 1848, seven days 

 after Surplice had won the St. Leger, Lord George Bentinck was 

 found dead in a meadow on his father's estate of Welbeck. He had 

 risen that morning, apparently in his usual health and spirits, and 

 after writing letters for several hours, about four o'clock in the after- 

 noon set out to walk to Thoresby, the seat of Lord Manvers, about 

 six miles from Welbeck, where he had been invited to spend a couple 

 of days. Lord George's valet had driven over to Thoresby in order 

 to meet his master on his arrival. But the master never came. 

 Hours passed on, and still there was no sign of his lordship. At 

 length the anxious servant returned to Welbeck, and called up the 

 groom who had driven him over to Thoresby, and enquired whether 

 he had seen anything of Lord George on the way back, as his lordship 

 had never reached Thoresby. The groom got up, and, accompanied 

 by the valet and two others, took lanterns and followed the footpath 

 which they had seen Lord George pursuing as they themselves drove 

 to Thoresby. About a mile from the Abbey, on the path which they 

 had observed him following, lying close to the gate which separates 

 a water-meadow from the deer-park, they found the body of Lord 

 George Bentinck. He was lying on his face ; his arms were under 

 his body, and in one hand he grasped his walking-stick ; his hat 

 was a yard or two before him, having evidently been thrown off in 

 falling ; the body was cold and stiff — he had been long dead. 

 The verdict of the coroner's jury, at the inquest, was, " Died by the 

 visitation of God — to wit, a spasm of the heart." The news of his 



