be well content with her present
Government, and that during the progress of the elections she
should have testified great interest in the success of the Whig
candidates. Her reliance upon Melbourne's advice extends at
present to subjects quite beside his constitutional functions,
for the other day somebody asked her permission to dedicate some
novel to her, when she said she did not like to grant the
permission without knowing the contents of the work, and she
desired Melbourne to read the book and let her know if it was fit
that she should accept the dedication. Melbourne read the first
volume, but found it so dull that he would not read any more, and
sent her word that she had better refuse, which she accordingly
did. She seems to be liberal, but at the same time prudent with
regard to money, for when the Queen Dowager proposed to her to
take her band into her service, she declined to incur so great an
expense without further consideration, but one of the first
things she spoke to Melbourne about was the payment of her
father's debts, which she is resolved to discharge.

October 23rd, 1837 {p.023}

[Page Head: MANGO WINS THE ST. LEGER.]

Since August 30th, nearly two months, I have written not a line,
for I have had nothing to record of public or general interest,
and have felt an invincible repugnance to write about myself or
my own proceedings. Having nothing else to talk of, however, I
shall write my own history of the last seven weeks, which is very
interesting to me inasmuch as it has been very profitable. Having
asked George Bentinck to try my horse 'Mango' before Doncaster,
we went down together one night to Winchester race-course and saw
him tried. He won the trial and we resolved to back him. This we
accomplished more successfully than we expected, and ten days
after he won the St. Leger, and I won about L9,000 upon it, the
first _great_ piece of good fortune that ever happened to me.
Since Doncaster, I have continued (up to this time) to win at
Newmarket, so that my affairs are in a flourishing condition,
but, notwithstanding these successes, I am dissatisfied and
disquieted in my mind, and my life is spent in the alternations
of excitement from the amusement and speculation of the turf and
of remorse and shame at the pursuit itself. One day I resolve to
extricate myself entirely from the whole concern, to sell all my
horses, and pursue other occupations and objects of interest, and
then these resol