In the somewhat brutal days of George III. (which brutality has descended to our own times) the Park was disgraced by prize-fights, and several duels were fought there, although the place was not so private as Wimbledon Common, Putney, or Kensington Gravel Pits. One of the favourite places in the Park for these encounters was near the Cheesecake House, or Price’s Lodge, for it was there that the celebrated duel between Lord Mohun and the Duke of Hamilton took place in 1712, and it certainly retained its position till 1751, when Fielding wrote _Amelia_, where Colonel Bath and Booth meeting in St. James’s Park, the Colonel says, “‘I will tell you therefore, Sir, that you have acted like a Scoundrel.’--‘If we were not in the Park,’ answered _Booth_ warmly, ‘I would thank you very properly for that Compliment.’--‘O Sir!’ cries the Colonel, ‘we can soon be in a convenient place.’ Upon which _Booth_ answered he would attend him wherever he pleased.--The Colonel then bid him come along, and strutted forward directly up _Constitution Hill_ to _Hyde Park_, _Booth_ following him at first, and afterwards walking before him, till they came to that Place which may be properly called the Field of Blood, being that part a little to the Left of the Ring, which Heroes have chosen for the Scene of their Exit out of this World.” Booth ran the Colonel through the body, without seriously injuring him, and a reconciliation took place, ending, “‘I bleed a little, but I can walk to the house by the water, (_the Cheesecake House_) and, if you will send me a Chair thither, I shall be obliged to you.’”[25] I propose to give an account of some authentic duels which have taken place in Hyde Park, commencing with that of Lord Mohun and the Duke of Hamilton, on November 15th, 1712, all the rest being taken from _The Gentleman’s Magazine_. [Illustration: DUEL BETWEEN LORD MOHUN AND THE DUKE OF HAMILTON. Page 37. ] This duel was invested with a political colouring, the Duke being the leader of the Jacobite faction in Scotland, and Mohun being a violent Whig; so that the Tories, enraged at Hamilton’s fall, did not scruple to call it a Whig murder, and denounce Lord Mohun’s second, General Macartney, as having unfairly stabbed him; but from the evidence taken at the two inquests,[26] there is not a _scintilla_ of truth in the statement. The story of the duel is, briefly, this. The two noblemen were opposing parties in a lawsuit; and, on Nov. 13, 1712, met in the chambers of a Master in Chancery, when the Duke remarked of a witness--“There is no truth or justice in him.” Lord Mohun replied, “I know Mr. Whitworth; he is an honest Man, and has as much truth as your Grace.” This, fanned to flame by officious friends, was enough; and, two days afterwards, they fought, early in the morning, in Hyde Park, near Price’s Lodge; their seconds, Col. Hamilton and General Macartney, also fighting, as was the custom; or, as they expressed it, “taking their share in the dance.”