FIRST LORD OF POLICE 149 



but the monetary results in stakes were sparse — 

 only about eight hundred pounds.^ To attempt any 

 explanation at this lapse of time, unless quoted by 

 competent authority, or from all but indisputable 

 deductions, would be unwise. The next two years,^ 

 1774-75, may likewise be passed over, as few, if 

 any, facts of social interest occur in his lordship's 

 Ufe to warrant record. In 1774,^ he ran five horses 

 in sixteen engagements; but won only three races 

 — value a little over two hundred and sixty pounds. 

 Nor do the twenty-three engagements, run by eight 

 horses in the following year, 1775, show a better 

 result; but indeed, in proportion to the entries, a 

 poorer one than any of the three previous years, as 

 four winning brackets, value three hundred and 

 sixty pounds, prove. 



In 1776, Lord March vacated the office of Vice- 

 Admiral of Scotland, when he was nominated First 

 Lord of Police, an office which then, as now, demands 

 any amount of shrewdness or tact; an office where 

 his lordship's acumen might j&nd a better field than 

 in the naval service. 



The unsatisfactory results of his lordship's Turf 

 career the past few years appear to have made him 

 bestir himself to revive his seemingly falling prestige. 



^ Fide Racing Analysis. -Ibid. '^ Ibid, 



