"A MANLY SPORTS BILL." 413 



The above letter, of which I have quoted less 

 than two-thirds, is so characteristic of Lord George 

 that it will be read with interest by the few sur- 

 vivors who knew him in the flesh. Unfortunately 

 the letter to Sir William about Running Rein's 

 Derby, which the latter has often described to me 

 as the most humorous that he ever received from 

 Lord George, cannot be found. It recorded, how- 

 ever, that after some little difficulty Lord George 

 obtained from Mr Ferguson all the information 

 that he needed to disqualify Running Rein for 

 the Derby. The other details of the famous trial 

 and of its result are too well known for repetition 

 here. 



Lord George's correspondence with Sir William 

 throws a flood of light on the "Qui,tam" actions 

 of 1843, and upon the extraordinary vigour with 

 which the former combated the " common in- 

 formers" by whom w^rits were served upon the 

 Earl of Eglinton, Lord George Bentinck, John 

 Bowes, George Anson, Jonathan Peel, Charles 

 Greville, W. H. Gregory, John Gully, and others, 

 under an old statute of Queen Anne, which was 

 construed into a legal prohibition of betting. 

 These writs were met by " A Manly Sports Bill," 

 introduced into the House of Lords on February 

 1, 1844, by the Duke of Richmond, and passed 

 that session by both Houses. At a numerous 

 meeting of the Jockey Club, held at Newmarket, 

 on Tuesday, in the Second October Meeting 1845, 



