The Sun.
London, England, 1868-05-18 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, AIONDAY EVFA,AfNG, MAY 18, IS6S,

THE ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF
THE DUKE OP EDINBURGH.

The following despatch was received on Sunday by the
Secretary of State for the Colonies :
" TIM EARL OF BELMORE TO THE DUKE OF BuCKING-

HAM AND CHANDOS.

" Government House, Sydney, March 27.

"My Lord Duke,--It is my Painful duty to inform
your Grace that a most determined attempt was made on
Thursday, the 12th of March, to assassinate his Royal
Highness the Duke of Edinburgh by a person named
O'Farrell, who, I believe, has for some time past, and
until six or seven months ago, been residing in the colony
of Victoria.

" 2. His Royal Highness on that day honoured with his
presence a public picnic, which took place at Cluntarf, on
the shore of what is known as Middle Harbour, in roit

SPORTING NOTES.

It is now an understood fact that the Marquis of
Hastings is not likely to be able to " arrange" with
his turf creditors, who are principally large book-
makers, at any rate until after the Derby has been
decided. The terms of the compromise were cer-
tainly not tempting to those gentlemen, as I believe
the proposition on that nobleman's behalf was to
pay one-fourth of the amount owing at once, and a
similar sum, which was to be considered a settle-
ment in full, at a period of three mouths afterwards.
The principal objector, who is said to be the largest
creditor, offered to accept the amount of the compro-
mise proposed if settled at once, and as his receipt
of the second instalment probably depende I upon
Lady Elizabeth winning the Derby, against which
he may have laid the marquis a lot of money, the ob-
jection is anything but au unreasonable one.
Th 3 Bath Meeting, which Willa:net; 3 to-morrow,
will be watched with tha most intense interest, as
frequently one or other of the Derby favourites re-
ceive their quietus at that charming spot. Spe-
culum is engaged in the Sixteenth Biennial Stakes,
but the Duke of Newcastle will se Lrcely bi is iacci
to start him in the face of the great chanc3 he pos-
sesses for " The Blue Itiband ;" an 1 I must there-
fore pin my faith on Sr. ItogAN, unless Griarston
has recovered his blnt form. As regards the
Beaufort Cup, I do not anticipve seeing more
than six or seven at the post out of the twenty-
eight nominations, and they will probably be
Achievement, Gomera, Bliukhoolie or Knight of
the Garter, Goodwood, Julius, and The Earl.
Achievement's style of winning the Doncaster Cup
was so first rate that I think she has only JULIUS
to fear, but, great mare as she is, I fully anticipate
seeing her defeated by this fine son Of St. Albans.
If both of them should be beaten, it will probably
be by The Earl, who will, in my opinion, stay the
two miles and a half as well as anything in the race.
There are no less than sixty-four youngsters en-
gaged in The Seventeenth Biennial Stakes, of which
I fancy Miss FooTE and Da VERE in the order
named. For The County Members' Plate SisTEit
TO VEDETTE is turned loose, and ought to
win. The acceptances are not yet out for the
Bath Handicap, but whichever Lord Westmorland
runs, FORESIGHT or GANYMEDE, seem well enough
in to be successful.

Tne Somersetshire Stakes, run on Wedneslay,
has .only sixteen acceptances. Last Monday, when
none of the prophets even mentioned Ploughboy as
a starter for the Great NorthernNHandicap, from a
reference to The Sun of that date it. will be found
that I stated that if an outsider won it would be
Ploughboy. It gave me great satisfaction to see
him beat the two bolstered up favourites Beauty
and Blinkhoolie, and run into a place. On this
occasion I shall plump for

Is it a matter of wonder
.that some of the princii el
claimant; feeling that they have been dallied with an •'.;
humbugged beyond endurance, hav;3 now indignantly de-
termined to reject all such proposals, and leave their noble
debtor to be dealt with by public opinion and by his
own conscience, if he has not long ago gat rid of such a
troublesome article? From first to last the affair has
been most discreditable and disgraceful, and connected,
as it is, with a member of the Jockey Club, must be ex-
cessively annoying to the members of that august body.
It is idle for the legislators of the turf to urge that they
take no cognisance of betting, and therefore must occupy
the position of mere spectators in any dispute of which it
may be the foundation. Thoy can never get over the fact
that a notorious defaulter takes part in their deliberations,
on a footing of equality with themselves; they can never
forget that they are men of high social standing, of unim-
peached honour, and of unbounded influence over not
only the business, but the morality of the turf ; and in view
of such dignity, character, and lower--in view of ths
slur that is cast upeu them by the ass wietion with a man
in the position of the Marquis of Hastings it behoves them
—and I for one earnestly imp'ore them - to save from fur-
ther disgrace the spert whose desinies are in their hands
by the im:nediate adoption of such stepeas will prevent the
repetition of s fl .grant a scandal and cause of reproach. It
is well known that from the psculiae framing of the laws
iu regard to defaulters at Go.elwoo I, York, aid Ascot,
such a et :to of things as I he.vo describe 1 is utterly impos
sible, as any credit sr ism prevent Hi dehtor's horse; running
so long as he fails to absolve himself teen his defeult. 1$
it not a grievance that at New:net-kit, Epson, Doncaster,
and all other meetings but those I have named, this very
stringent but necessary law does not obtain, and that. :Ley
man, even though steeped to the lips in deft, may run his
horses and make muuey on them if he can, all the while
snapping his fingers at the creditors whose just claims he
refuses to recognise? As the case now stands, a member
of the Jockey Club, a body whose power iu such matters
is unlimited, is at once the greatest defaulter of the turf, and
the owner of the first favourite for the Derby. It is
known—in fact, it is not denied—that he has backed his
mare to win him an enormous sum at long odds ; and it
is certain that by merely guaranteeing the liabilities of
the commissioners who in this case acted in his behalf,
he actually stands to win a fortune from the very moo to
whom ho is at the same time so deeply indebted. In fact,
should Lady Elizabeth win the Derby—and the present
market odds are only 3 to 1 against such a contingency—
the bookmakers will have to pay to his lordship's agents
the money hey have betted against the mare ; while,
though they,know that every farthing of the money so ob-
tained from them will pass direct into their debtor's pocket,
they have, under the present laws affecting racing and bet-
ting, absolutely no power to deduct either what is due to
them on past accounts, or even reimburse themselves for
the bets made by the Marquis on this very race—some of
them so long ago that they are now possibly so much
lost money. Is it not high time that the laws which sanc-
tion so monstrous an injustice should be swept into the
dusthole of all effete, oppressive, and absurd legislation ?
Is it not high time that the Jockey Club who alone can
institute a reform; sweeping indeed but indispensable to the
welfare of the turf, should bestir themselves to prevent a
repetition of the gross scandal which has drawn attention
once more to the subject ? And is it not high time that all
honourable mon should join in a respectful but earnest ap-
peal :hat they who hold the reins of the sport, should no
longer be indifferent to the ruinous course which it is
pursuing ?
If I might venture to make a suggestion to Lord Hast-
ings or his advisers—on the supposition, of course, that
they entertain a real intention to at least attempt the clear-
ing off of his liabilities—l think there would be no diffi-
culty in devising a plan which would at once accomplish
their object without entailing much real cost. It is well
known, as I have before said, that his lordship stands to
win an enormous stake on Lady Elizabeth at long odds.
If he desires a relief by honourable means from his em-
barrassment, he has only to send into the market a commis-
sion to hedge his mony, which could now be done on such
highly favourable terms as to realise a sum, which added
to the xle,doo he and his friends pretend they are willing
to produce, would at once very nearly clear off the whole
of his liabilities. By this means he would be able to pay
the bookmakers from the profits he could even now realise
upon the transactions he has at present outstanding with
them. I am quite aware, that should a large sum of
hedging-money be suddenly thrown into the market, it
might possibly affect the favourite's position in the quota-
tions, but even this difficulty might readily be got over,
for I fully believe not one of his lordship's creditors, if
good names were given, would refuse to take the present
market odds about the mare to sums proportionate to the
amounts owing to them. Providing these bets were to
be taken in part of their demands, they would, I am quite
sure, take their chance of finding an opportunity of retail-
ing them. In this view of the case, supposing that the
Marquis owes a little over .£49,000, in set-off against this
he is the present holder of bets upon which, were he so
disposed, he could easily realise a ready profit of upwards
of £29,000 of the amount. I throw out this suggestion,
confided that it would prove an easy means of rescuing
the Marquis of Hastings from a position, disgraceful to
himself and his ancient mime, emberrassing to his friends
and discreditable to the ordsr to which he bslonge, and of,
at the, same time, d big justice to ael Les of men by who,ni
he has never suffered any pecuniary loss, who have never
dealt unfairly by him, and who sutler in mind and
pocket from h:s ungentlem oily and unjust . treat-
ment at them. Let it be noted that it is capable
of proof thee his Lirdship has not lust money on
the turf ; that, as a matter of fact, Ito has absolutely
won from !II )st of at) b sakm .rs ; that three of his
heaviest creditors have assured mo they have on the be-
;awe paid him I trip suns of m mey, and that one gentle-
man who paid him list year ..£21,00,) is now out of pocket
by his transactions with him to the extent of no less than
.£l,OO, and cannot even get an offer of settlement. Let
it be remembered also that this defaulter has from the com-
mencement trilled with, laughed at, and now defies his
creditors, that he owes them thousands of pounds which
they have little hope of ever recovering, and that ho has
every prospect of winning an immense fortune from them
which he will put into his pocket, and, probably, keep
there; and the racing world and the general public have
some means of arriving at a true conclusion as to the
honour of a nobleman, and the prospects, under presert
laws, of the national sport of England.