230 THE JOCKEY CLUB 1773— 



equivalent English. And it is quite clear from the 

 works which he published, called ' The Jockey Club ' 

 and a ' Political Dictionary,' that he was a man of 

 considerable education and even scholarship, that he 

 was for awhile the social equal of such men as the 

 Hon. and Kt. Hon. C. J. Fox, and that, scurrilous as 

 his works were (so scurrilous that the printer was im- 

 prisoned in 1793), he knew what he was talking about 

 and was quite right in the main about the noblemen 

 and gentlemen whom he libelled. He was a great 

 gentleman -jockey (as well as an owner of numerous 

 good racehorses), having ridden and won races 

 against Sir John Lade, Mr. Walker, and other ' crack ' 

 riders among the members of the Jockey Club, That 

 he lost his fortune on the Turf (though he won 

 upwards of 16,000 guineas with Shark alone, the 

 great horse that was imported into Virginia and died 

 there) is- lamentably true ; that he had to withdraw 

 from the Jockey Club appears to be certain ; that he 

 was scouted and * cut ' by its members cannot be 

 doubted ; that he went swiftly down the easy road to 

 Avernus is as plain as large print ; and he was ulti- 

 mately charged with uttering seditious language, fell 

 into debt apparently, was confined in the Sumpter 

 Prison in 1793, and was only released from his 

 troubles by death in the following year. He seems 

 to have married a sister of Sir Charles Cope, of 

 Brewerne, Oxon, and certainly to have belonged to the 

 same class as those persons whom he scurrilously 



