YOUTHFUL DAYS 9 



The guardianship of the young Earl devolved on 

 his uncle, the Honourable John Douglas of Broughton, 

 Peebles, member of Parliament for that county from 

 1722 to 1732. In the latter year he died. A 

 second guardian had to be found for his nephew. 

 For this often thankless office his lordship's cousin, 

 Charles, third Duke of Queensberry, was served 

 ' tutor-at-law ' as his nearest ' agnate.' Little evi- 

 dence is forthcoming as to what extent his grace 

 troubled himself concerning his charge. On the other 

 hand, the Earl was one likely to take full advantage 

 of his guardian's well-known kind and benevolent 

 disposition, which a waywardness to please himself 

 confirms. The young Earl, when but a youth, showed 

 a dislike to a country life ; indeed, neither the pursuits 

 of his native vale nor the attractions of his natal town 

 sufficed to satisfy the cravings of his lordship for a 

 'nook' of notoriety in the fashionable world. At 

 last the Modern Athens — Edinburgh — was reached, 

 as the primary goal of his lordship's desires. 



It is hardly worth while to hazard conjectures as 

 to the young Earl's curriculum, as his lordship got 

 his knowledge and experience from the most fertile 

 source of both — the world. Indeed, his well-known 

 dislike to information gained from books testifies 

 that he did not care to be esteemed a scholar. 



