im for losing at play, and
I think of it as little as I can, because I cannot bear to be obliged to
abate the least of the good opinion I have always had of him.'

Oddly enough the writer had no better account to give of her own
husband; she says, in the letter:--'Sir Charles games from morning till
night, but he has never yet lost L100 in one day.'(122)

(122) This Lady Sarah Bunbury was the wife of Sir Charles Bunbury, after
having had a chance of being Queen of England, as the wife of George
III., who was passionately in love with her, and would have married her
had it not been for the constitutional opposition of his privy council.
This charming and beautiful woman died in 1826, at the age of 82.
She was probably the last surviving great-granddaughter of Charles
II.--Jesse, _Ubi supra_.

About the year 1776 Lord Carlisle wrote the following letter to George
Selwyn:--

'MY DEAR GEORGE, 'I have undone myself, and it is to no purpose to
conceal from you my abominable madness and folly, though perhaps the
particulars may not be known to the rest of the world. I never lost so
much in five times as I have done to-night, and am in debt to the house
for the whole. You may be sure I do not tell you this with an idea that
you can be of the least assistance to me; it is a great deal more than
your abilities are equal to. Let me see you--though I shall be ashamed
to look at you after your goodness to me.'

This letter is endorsed by George Selwyn--'After the loss of L10,000.'
He tells Selwyn of a set which, at one point of the game, stood to win
L50,000.

'Lord Byron, it is almost needless to remark, was nearly related to Lord
Carlisle. The mother of Lord Carlisle was sister to John, fourth Lord
Byron, the grandfather of the poet; Lord Carlisle and Lord Byron were
consequently first cousins once removed. Had they happened to have been
contemporaries, it would be difficult to form an idea of two individuals
who, alike from tastes, feelings, and habits of life, were more likely
to form a lasting and suitable intimacy. Both were men of high rank;
both united an intimate knowledge of society and the world with the
ardent temperament of a poet; and both in youth mingled a love of frolic
and pleasure with a graver taste for literary pursuits.'

CHARLES JAMES FOX.

In the midst of the infatuated votaries of the gaming god in England,
towers the mighty intellectual giant Charles James Fox. Nature had
fashioned him t