402 RACING CAREER OF SIR W. H. GREGORY. 



task of bringing Lord George to the same spot. 

 Unfortunately, all his well-meant efforts proved to 

 be futile. Accompanied by Colonel Anson, Lord 

 George drew near, when, catching sight of Mr 

 Greville, his old antipathy to his cousin burst out 

 with renewed vig-our. He declined to advance an- 

 other step, exclaiming to his companion, "After all, 

 I would rather have nothing to do with the fellow 1 " 

 Against this decision all Colonel Anson's entreaties 

 and arguments were powerless to prevail. 



The remarkable duel between . Lord George and 

 " the Squire " created the greatest sensation at 

 the time of its occurrence. The popular account 

 is that Lord George fired first and missed. Upon 

 that he is represented to have called out to Mr 

 Osbaldeston in a loud voice, " Now, Squire, the 

 odds are ten to one upon you." No one acquainted 

 with Lord George's aristocratic pride, of which he 

 speaks in a letter to Sir W. Gregory,^ will be 

 likely to believe it possible that under such 

 circumstances he would use language of this kind 

 to an adversary whom he profoundly despised. 

 I am indebted to Sir William for the version 

 which now follows, and its authenticity is con- 

 firmed in other quarters. It agrees substantially 

 with an account of the duel which I contributed 

 seven years ago to ' The Sporting Times,' and 

 which was read by Sir William Gregory with 

 much satisfaction. 



1 See p. 412. 



