ROMANTIC CAREER OF THE FIFTH DUKE OF PORTLANDS BROTHER.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 66, 7 March 1908, Page 4

ROMANTIC CAREER OF THE FIFTH DUKE OF PORTLANDS BROTHER.

A KACIXii XoISI.LMAX WHO WAS A BOSOM FKILXD ill' DISRAELI.

A MVSTEKIotS IjdVK EPISODE IX THE LIFE UF 1 IIK MAD DIKE.

One uiigiu v.eii .iave iuougui. that there muia be uoUimg mole lu leu-ll of tin- romantic aiul wysiciious caicei ot the 'uiad Duke ol Vortlaiid. whose liie has recently been -nomitted to -o iuuc|, siiuluiy an-i ili«-.'i-tii>n: but ili.n there ale still depths oi m\-lcr\ uulalhoiucd the i..|j..wing -ion will in.ike clear.

During ihe lii-t fifty \.ai- of the lite ut tne liilu llul.e hi- p.-i-,,nalit > was eonipleli-ly eclipsed by that of hiyounger orotber. Lord William ilonrg' Frederick Cavendish-Bciitiiick, who, aLord lieorge Beutiuck. wa- by universal consul the most impo-iiig and interesting ngure in the British aristocracy uf his day.

" There are still veterans left." wrote Tuoruiauby. a few years ago. " who talk with bated breath of Lord U-org,-as a superior being—a god-like man. a king of men. So he appealed to the bulk of his contemporaries." Indeed, it is doubtful whether there has ever lieea a finer physical .specimen of an Englishman.

Such, then, was Lord George Bculinck, the idol of Die Ural half ol last century, aud brother of the niuibid, eccentric, shy creature who has recently occupied far more public attention than ever lie did during his strange and iusignilicanf lire.

From the day he joined the Army as a cornet of Hussars in 18111, to the tragic dose of his life, Lord Ueorge always cut a conspicuous and brilliant liguie in the world. He was the spoilt cui.u. ol fortune; and, like all sucu spoilt children, was constantly gelling into but water—aEd out oi it again, -is a subaltern, lor instance, he sUoweu ouch little respect lor lus seniors lual, one day ou juradc, a Captain FLcrr exclaimed aloud, "li jou dont make this voung gentleman behave himself, colonel, 1 will.-' Wnelcupou the insubordinate -üb. retorted, -Captain h.err ventures to say on parade ittal which he dares not re peal onV Such was the youth and such the man—gay, debonair, and popular to the highest degree, but always uncontrollable and reckless. As a sportsman he was the chief of popular heroes, his appearance on a racecourse being the invariable signal for an ovation, such as the King might have envied. And, iudeed, his Turf transactions were all conducted on a scale of truly regal magnificence.

Though he was never by any means rich, he often had as many as sixty horses in training, while his racing stud I numbered a hundred. He kept three stud farms going, and his out-of-pocket expenses ran to tjn.OOO and more a year. To provide the money for such prodigality he wagered enormous sums. for the Derby of 1843, for instance, he stood to win £150,00" on his horse Gaper, and actually pocketed C30.1H10 though Gaper was not even placed. In 1815 his net winnings on bets reached £100.000; and he thought nothing of winning or losing his entire year's private income on a single raee. One by one all the great prizes nt the Turf fell to him—some many time!" —but the onlv prize he ever eared a brass farthing' for. the Derby, always eluded hi- grasp, though again and again it seemed a certainty. So deep at last liecame his disgust and mortification at the unkindness of Fate in withholding the only Iwon he coveted. that, in a moment of pique, he decided to sell his stud and leave the Turf for

ever. , - I'll sell you the lot," he impulsively said to George Payne at Goodwood, •- from Bay Middleton to little Kitchener (his famous jockey I, for 110,000. Yes or noJ" Payne offered him U3OO to have a few- hours to tliink the matter over, and handed the tWKI over at breakfast the next morning. No sooner had the forfeit been paid than Mr. M««tyn. who was sitting at the same table. looked up quietly and said, "I'll take the lot. Bentinck, at £IO.OOO. and will give you a cheque before yon go on the course.' "If you plea-e." was bill George's placid answer: and thu- ended one of the most brilliant Turf careers on record.

And now for the irony „t l-'ate! Among the Mud thu- -old. in a tit ..f pique, for an " old song." was Surplice. the winner of the next year's Derby and St. Leger. Lord (ieorge had actually had the great prize in hi- hand and had let it gol .lu-t a few months later, on September IUI. 1848, his body wa- found lying, cold and stiff, in a meadow about a mile from Welheck. That very morning he had risen full of health and -pint-, and at four o'clock in the afternoon had set nut to walk acro-s country to Thoresbv. Lord Manvers'- seat, where he wa- to spend a couple of days. He had sent on his valet by road in advance: but the night fell.'and Lord George never made hi- appearance. A search with lantern- was instituted, and about midnight his body was discovered lying face downwards do-* to one of the deer-park "ate-. He had lieen dead for some hour-.

Y\ Tut was the cause of hi* mysterious <l«!iitli: The coroner's jury appear to have found no difficulty in coming to a decision. Their verdict was, "Died by the vi-itation of 1«k1—to wit. a spasm of the heart.'' And tilth vanished from the world one of its most brilliant and picturesque ornaments, in the very prime of his life and his powers (he was only forty-sixl. and when he seemed us sur'ed of a political future even more dazzling than hi- Turf fame. But there were many, among the thousands who deplored the tragi? eclipse of such a promising life, who were liy no means satisfied with the vague verdict at the inquest. Lord George had always lieen a man of remarkable vigour and health, and never more so than on tin- day of his death. Wa.- it at all likely that such a man would drop dead during a quiet and unexciting stroll acro-s country* Later years, however, have brought new facts to light which -uggest a very different explanation of this tragedy. "The hand of Cod" it was, no doulr, which .-truck the fatal blow—it always tuu-t lie: but was there no other agency, and that a human one; Could it not Ik- the hand of a brother': I-et u- sec.

Though Lord Ceorge Itentinck wa-lh" han.l-onie-t man and one of the most eligible parti-' ol hi- day he never married, yet no doubt he had bad many an " affair of the heart.' I'.iit n.it "no ..f all the high-born ladie- who would have turned their back- on coronets lo iH-.ome ' Uuiy (leorg.. " could in his ~y, I compare with Annie May Berkeley, a I lovely and penniless girl, who could not [even Iwast a "respectable" parentage. Mi-s Berkeley was. so it is -aid, i child of that nio-t romantic union Ikiweell the Kill "f Berkeley ami pretty Mary ( oie. ,he bui.-her'- daughter. Thigh! he pioie-e,! ,„ have nude hi- .-oiiiile-- -honlx .11, r. in the ~.,,i-li ehurch of l!erke!e\. That hi- lord-hip legall. married hi- low-born bride at Lambeth clev. n v. ii- lat'-r i- beyond doubt, but that alleged iil-l -i-eiet marriage waniore than opin i„ -it-pieicin. 'I here -ivm- little doubt that the emrv iu the Berkeley ,1,„,,h i, r i-te, „.,- „ fore-en. and that le.t until .Mary Cole had Wno -eveial children to the'Karl did -he become legally hi- nil, bv the valid knot tied at LaniUoh. It „,,-. in lael. ,|,.,.j,|. Ed by the ||,,., , ].,. P1 . ,|,,„ ~„. Berkeley marriage was not proven, and til"- -even of tl hildren were il!,. L .iii tlUltc.

It W.I- one Of 1.-I'd Helkelei'- ehi; • lre„ ibiis brained .„ the world who i--ai.l to have won the heart and homaof f/T-1 I! ge Helltillek. Alld lillle worn! ■: for Aneie Mac 11-rke'rv had

inlierite-d more than her nether'- beaut e of ~,,-e alld of figure, with the patrician air and refinement which came from generation- of noble an. e-to',--. rstii Ituud-oioe I.oid .:- «... onlv one of nianv wooer- whom be,- charms had en-l.w-d. There were other- eipiatlv ar.len-. if h— favoured, and anion" them none -■■: ii.-i- than t'"' Manpiis of Titebfiebl. Lord iieoraP'- 'dder brother and the fniure , centric Duke of Portland, often referred t,. as "The Wizard of Well. • \ " Ho- M M„ui- and hi- yoiingnbroth, r ' ;.! m >,-r lieen on the best of It' mi-. 1 1. - ii.tit little in common, and when ii,,.,- i„„„,i themselves rival -uitor- for the -mile- of fhe -.,„„• maidc.i i... „..,.. ,ii.,„v,.„..i •!.,, ,h,' m,,-,,,,-.;,",, J in .re i-nima-e wi.li I,J. I.„K 1,,-,. ,| M ,, i|„. -l„.o!.l be .'.,. their ~.;,,; ~,. !„.,.,,,,„ [strnineil •.. a.l .•......-.,e. .i t: ;. -aid that the broth, r- .;::... i.-il.-d ii,.,- -1 nln never thev met. and lint T--i 1 CeorL'P. who-e temper wa- \ndeh-. ii

quenlly struck his brother, whu wan 110 physical inuU'li lor him. (Jno day, >o the story goes, their constant squabbles reached a climax. AfU'r a licrci'f quarrel thuu usual Lord Cuorge struck his brother and rival repeatedly, until the latter, roused to fury, struck bark and landed a heavy blow »u his brother's chest, over the' heart. Lord Ocorgc's heart was diseased, and the Mow proved fatal.

This, ilien, is said to be the Hue explanation of the tragedy of that September day ill 184S; of that "-pa-m of tin- heart " which, according to the verdict of the coroner'.- jury, wa- the railsp ol 1.01(1 (ieurge liclllillck's deatll.

If ihi- -tors is true much that lia--1 11 .-0 lull!! invsteriiius beenllle- clear. Lird Cooler'- sudden aud tragic death is explained: its also the f.u-t that it was from this peii.,,l that the Duke of Portland's moro-eue-s and shunning of the world iH'caine so inarked as to be srarrcly distinguishable from in-anily. If tiedeath of a brother, however provoked and accidental, had been on his conscience, what could be more naluril than that the fratricide should thus shut himself from the world, in sorrow and remorse?

But the lull story of this mysterious episode in the Duke's life still remains untold. What lwcame of the girl who had been the innocent cause ol llu- alleged tragedy'; As Annie .May Berkeley sin; seems to disappear from view: but three -ears later, in 18.11, Ihe Duke ol Portland, who had in the meantime preceded to the title, married for his second wife one Annie May. Were Annie May and Annie May Berkelev the same woman? There are some who declare that they were, and that the girl who had been loved by both brothers and hail been the indirect cause of the death of one was )cd to the altar by the survivor. Who shall

sav what is the truth of this strange dory? lint, true or false, it adds much

to the complexity of one of the most inscrutable and "romantic stories that have ever found a place in the history of the liritish Peerage.