A CAREFUL GAMBLER 57 



Therefore he always followed one rule when playing 

 at any of the public 'hells' which then infested 

 London from St. James's to St. Giles's — i.e. to start 

 from home with just fifty guineas in his pocket if 

 bent on playing at the public hazard-tables. If in 

 a ' lucky vein ' he would follow the advice sometimes 

 offered by those whom many regard as the descend- 

 ants of the last-century ' hell ' proprietors — viz. the 

 present-day ' bucket-shop keepers ' — ' to run a profit 

 and cut a loss.' Thus, if his lordship was winning, 

 he would play till Aurora peeped through the blinds. 

 If, on the contrary, he was not in ' vein,' he would 

 depart from the temple of Chance on the loss of his 

 last guinea. But his caution at public hazard-tables 

 was not so rigidly observed Avhen he was playing 

 among his own ' set ' at his various clubs or the 

 house of a friend : then he fully bore out what 

 Thackeray records, that when sure of his company 

 he would cover almost any stake, trusting to his skill 

 and knowledge to win. 



At Newmarket, on May 5th, 1757, Lord March rode 

 his famous match against a brother peer and sports- 

 man, the Duke of Hamilton, whose descendant is still 

 a supporter of the Turf. True, the match was not 

 for a large stake (fifty guineas); but it was the then 

 uncommon spectacle of seeing two peers in the ' pig- 



