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CHAPTER XVI.

THE FIFTH DUKE OF RICHMOND, K.G.

FIFTEEN chapters of this work have thus far been mainly devoted to the racing career of Lord George Bentinck, and to its bearings upon his social, political, and sporting character. It will now be my duty to offer to readers who have had the patience to follow me thus far, a few reminiscences of Lord George's racing confederate, the fifth Duke of Richmond.

My father and I had the honour to serve his Grace and never was there a better or a kinder master before Lord George ever entered the Good wood stable as an owner of race-horses trained therein, and long after he had left it. I have no hesitation in asserting that some of the Duke's most valuable qualities were not without their influence upon Lord George, who never showed himself greater than in 1848, when Surplice, whom he had bred, won the Derby for Lord Clifden. From many things that I have seen