174 'OLD q' 



for politics by ' punting,' or laying a bet he would 

 not have ' insulted ' any horse in his racing stable or 

 on the Turf by laying. This appears in the 'bet- 

 book ' of White's, where is recorded : 



'The Duke of Queensberry bets Mr. Grenville ten 

 guineas to five, that Mr. Fox does not stand a poll for 

 Westminster, if the Parliament should be dissolved within 

 a month from the date hereof. 



' N.B. — If a coalition takes place between Mr. Pitt and 

 Mr. Fox, this bet to be off. 



' March 3rd, 17 8i. Paid.' 



' Politics ' was evidently a species of chicanery that 

 his grace, as a Turf and gambling professor, could or 

 did not comprehend. Therefore, a desultory ten was 

 quite enough for the 'black animal'^ to carry of 

 his money for any Parliamentary Handicap. But I 

 doubt if Queensberry would have offered or accepted 

 a similar stake to or from Fox on the racecourse, 

 subscriptions-rooms, or at the gaming-table. 



A month prior to the above — February 10th — 

 Queensberry instructed his steward to write to his 

 Scottish factor concerning a petition he had received 

 by letter from Thornhill (near Drumlanrig) respecting 

 a piece of land for a site to build a meeting-house. 



1 A term by which Charles James Fox was known. 



