THE STAR OF PICCADILLY. 



59 



restrained by any prudish regard for decency or decorum. How 

 far this scandalous gossip may have been true, we are not pre- 

 pared to say. Probably many of the stories relating to ' Old 

 Q.V amusements were false, and many more exaggerated. But 

 though his amours — and many of them were exceedingly dis- 

 creditable — gained him his chief notoriety, yet he had another 

 and worthier fame as a sound and genuine sportsman. His 

 career on the Turf was a long and honourable one, and was 

 marked by some curious incidents, which are worth recording 

 here. His name was first entered in the racing calendars in 

 1748. At the York Meeting of that year he rode two races on 

 his horses. Whipper-in and Smoker, winning both. From his 

 first appearance he was acknowledged to be the best amateur 

 jockey of his time, and rode his own horses in most of his prin- 

 cipal matches. He was an indefatigable matchmaker, and had 

 a tower of strength to back him up in his jockey, the famous 

 Dick Goodison. In 1750 he won the first of the many eccentric 

 matches with which his name is associated. He laid a heavy 

 wager with a well-known Irish sportsman that he would drive 

 a four-wheeled carriage nineteen miles in sixty minutes. The 

 choice of ground was stipulated for by the Duke (then Earl of 

 March) ; and the only condition in respect to the vehicle was 

 that it must have four wheels. Wright, the then famous coach- 

 builder of Long Acre, constructed an ingenious machine of wood 

 and whalebone, and the harness was of silk. The course at 

 Newmarket was fixed upon for the match, which came off on 

 the 29th of August 1750. Previous to the appointed day Lord 

 March had made many trials, in the course of which it is said 

 that no less than seven thoroughbreds were killed ; but this was 

 denied by the Earl himself. An immense amount of money 

 depended on the result, and thousands of people assembled to 

 witness the match. Four thoroughbreds, mounted by two of 

 the lightest weights that could be procured, were harnessed to 

 this singular chariot ; and at the word ' Go !' they dashed off at a 

 terrific pace, finally finishing the distance in fifty-five minutes. 

 In 1757, at the Secoiid Newmarket Spring Meeting, Lord March 

 rode his memorable match with the Duke of Hamilton for a 

 thousand guineas, and won. Probably most of our readers 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 



