124 JOHN PORTER OF KINGSCLERE 



He stated that, at the instance of the Duke of 

 Beaufort, he tried to dissuade the Marquis from 

 scratching The Earl ; and, moreover, declared 

 that he himself had not wagered a shilling either 

 on or against the colt. As for John Day, he at 

 once sought the aid of the law, and instituted 

 proceedings against the Admiral. Just as the 

 public were developing a keen appetite for the 

 disclosures the trial of the case was expected to 

 produce, the matter was more or less amicably 

 settled by the Admiral's formal withdrawal of his 

 original letter. In taking that course he stated 

 that the day he wrote his accusation he addressed 

 a second letter to the editor of The Times 

 asking him not to publish the one which caused 

 offence. 



It only remains to be added that the Marquis 

 of Hastings, a victim of phthisis, died the follow- 

 ing November. His brief and inglorious career 

 formed the subject of many a homily on the evils 

 of gambling and the iniquities of the Turf. He 

 was undoubtedly one of the heaviest bettors during 

 a period when plungers abounded ; but those in 

 a position to know averred that he was not a loser 

 by his gambling on horses. It was, they said, 

 his losses over cards and his extravagance in 

 many directions that placed him in financial 

 difficulties. At Doncaster that year the Marquis 

 asked me if I would take Lady Elizabeth and 

 The Earl and train them for him. I could not, 



