134 'OLD q' 



fact, Lord March's virtues or vices might be said 

 to have run in the same groove — not a horse did he 

 run this year except at exercise on the Heath ; nor 

 is anything recorded by his pen as to how his 

 operatic 'flames' were flourishing, or as to his 

 gains or losses in the betting or gaming world. 

 Indeed, the letters ^ to his ' dear George ' are almost 

 tiresome in character, mixed with just enough 

 fashionable chatter to tone them to Selwyn's palate. 

 In the last, however, his lordship mentions having 

 returned from hunting, a sport he is said to have 

 been as great an adept in as horse- racing, but little 

 if any record exists of his prowess in the hunting- 

 field. 



A thorough examination of the Racing Analysis 

 appended will prove that his lordship had been 

 reorganising or weeding-out his racing stable; as, 

 with the advent of the year 1769, he resumed 

 running horses. Only three engagements were made, 

 and a £50 plate secured as trophy for this ' giddy ' 

 record. What his operations were in the ring or 

 subscription-rooms cannot be even guessed ; nor does 

 he permit a surmise from his correspondence, which, 

 during this year and the next, is conspicuous by 

 its absence from the epistolary hoards of Selwyn. 



^ Appendices U 1 and V 1. 



