time, one of the most talked-of and preached-at incidents in modern
social life. To understand the matter it is necessary to look at the
Prince's environment. He was the leader of society and society, together
with a large proportion of people everywhere, saw no harm in a game of
cards, or even in the accompaniment of playing for ordinary money
stakes, any more than they saw harm in racing and betting upon the
results, or in dancing and its accompaniment of late hours and perhaps
frivolous dissipation. Yet to many people in the United Kingdom and the
Empire danger and evil lurked in one or all of these amusements and it
was a shock to them to find that the Heir Apparent actually indulged in
card-playing; although everyone had known that he patronized the other
two pursuits referred to.

The history of the affair may be told briefly. On September 8th, during
the Doncaster races, Mr. Arthur Wilson, a very wealthy shipowner, was
entertaining a large party at Tranby Croft, near Hull, which included
the Prince of Wales, Lord Coventry, General Owen Williams, Sir William
Gordon-Cumming, Lord Craven, Lord and Lady Brougham and Lord Edward
Somerset. When each day's racing was over and the company had returned
to Tranby Croft and finished dinner, Baccarat was introduced as the
amusement of the evening and played for a couple of hours. The stakes
were moderate--for such a party--and ran from five shillings to ten
pounds. About seventeen people, ladies and gentlemen, usually sat down
and the Prince of Wales was the life of the party, as he generally was,
whatever the occupation or sport. On the date mentioned, Mr. Stanley
Wilson, the host's son, thought he saw Sir W. Gordon-Cumming using his
counters fraudulently and informed Lord Coventry and General Williams of
his suspicions. On the third evening a committee of five--two ladies and
three gentlemen--watched the baronet and unanimously agreed that they
saw him cheating. He was privately accused of the offence, denied it
vehemently, and brought the matter before the Prince, who practically
acted as judge and regretfully told him that there could be no doubt of
his guilt.

It was, perhaps the most difficult position the Prince of Wales had ever
been placed in. To hand a friend and fellow-guest and well-known soldier
over to justice meant in this case ruin to the man himself, disgrace to
their host and his family and a considerable amount of discredit to the
Prince. Of the latter po