suddenly, without recollecting the necessary acting, whipped his lame hand out of the sling, bestowed a slap with it on the back of the other jock, which made him start up, and shouted out, "Bravo, old chap-and I'll go you halves;" at the same time placing the would-be wounded member on the table, untouched and unscathed. The roar

of laughter which followed this raising of the curtain, seemed to be as much enjoyed by the employer as by any of the audience who were unhurt by the " sleight of hand;" the ancient and time-eaten jock declaring that, "pe-ositively, it waus the best pefaumince he evaw witnizid; and that, upon his honau, as a gentleman, it was a degree bettau than any play. At the same time, he must remark, that the seprise was just as grate upon him as upon anybody in the roome;" a declaration which the employer assented to, by stating, that, by the honour of a turf-man, he also was not in the thing; and thought his jock had gotten goose at Roscommon. The light-weight, looking at the pair of sinners with an amused countenance, merely remarked, that, from their general characters, there could be no doubt of their not having had any participation whatsoever in his frolic.

The night wore away; and as I was just turning in, about two o'clock, I heard loud cries of "Murder!" and, rushing down, beheld a scene which can never be obliterated from my mind. In one corner of the room, apparently bleeding to death, lay an old grey-headed gentleman, whom I had seen that day at the ordinary, and who had told me that he was an officer upon full pay, and had been at Waterloo; in the middle stood the jock who had, by his remarks, elicited the drawing forth of the light-weight's arm, with a poker in his hand, with which he had just laid open the skull of a young gentleman, whom I had remarked, at the ordinary, as being particularly noisy and boorish; in the doorway stood a large man, who, while he supported the youth with one arm, clenched a large knife in another, and swore, if any of the parties stirred until he got assistance, he would fell him as he would an ox. The young man, it appeared, had taken umbrage at some very innocent remark of the old officer's, and had seized the poker, and struck him with it, inflicting some awful wounds. The jock, hearing the scuffle, had entered the room, and had been assailed by the Malay, between whom and the jock some gambling differences had existed, but had succeeded in wresting the poker, and became, in a certain degree, an instrument of retribution, by giving the Malay a severe wound with it across his skull; and thus stopping, rather suddenly, the match which he was just preparing to run.

secure

The doctor arrived; the old, grey-headed veteran was borne away, senseless and bleeding; the Malay, swearing vengeance, was dragged off to his room; the jock betook himself to some nook. The May sun shone cheerfully in at the open windows, while its rays (the smiles of God upon his dependant creatures) darkened as they fell upon the clotted blood upon the floor. The imprisoned blackbird, at the inn door, gave forth his hymn of praise to the Divinity; the sagacious crow left his household, and wandered forth to seek his food; and the peasant as, with spade in hand, he leaned against the bridge-wall, ere the bell summoned him to labour, viewing the merry river, o'er which the joyous motes were glancing, forgot his half-crushed and darkened hovel in the joy of the Lord.

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REMINISCENCES OF GENTLEMEN RIDERS.

BY LORD WILLIAM LENNOX.

"And witch the world with noble horsemanship."

SHAKSPEARE.

It is not our intention to enter into the rise and progress of racing in general-a subject which has been so ably discussed by the Editor of the SPORTING REVIEW; but simply to confine our notice to the Turf as far as it is connected with Gentlemen Riders; and therein to give anecdotes that have come under our immediate observation.

Horse-racing was followed in England long before any record of its performances was kept it is, therefore, impossible to give a detailed account of this diversion in its earliest days. The first account of anything like a horse-race in this country, is in the reign of Henry II., when it was customary for the young citizens of London to ride out into the fields every Sunday in Lent, for diversion. Some were armed with lances and shields, and exhibited a sort of tournament; others, generally boys, rode races. A signal being given, they set off at full speed, urging their horses with shouts and clamour, as well as with whip and spurs. When the court was near, the nobility witnessed these performances, which generally took place at Smithfield, then called Smoothfield, from its being a smooth, level piece of ground, and, therefore, set apart as a proper spot on which to shew and exercise horses. It was then, as it is now, a market for horses." In the reign of Henry VIII. there were no races, except private matches, in which gentlemen rode their own horses.

Queen Elizabeth did not encourage the sport; though many of her nobility were very fond of it.

In the succeeding reign of James I. horsemanship enlarged itself more considerably than in any former time, and public races were established.

In the disturbed reign of Charles I. little attention was paid to the breed of horses, or establishment of races.

Oliver Cromwell was no protector of races. In the lines of the Irish song,

"So brave Oliver Cromwell
He did them so pummel,"

that he issued two proclamations, prohibiting and forbidding all horseraces, in any place within England or Wales, for the space of six months, from the 26th February, 1654; and, again, in April, 1658, for eight months, "requiring the civil and military authorities to seize all the race-horses and spectators."

In the reign of Charles II. (my right merrie ancestor, who, according to Rochester's epitaph, was more witty than wise)

"Here lies our Sovereign Lord the King,

Whose word no man relies on;

Who never said a foolish thing,

And never did a wise one,"

we find the following notice, from the "London Gazette," July 31st, 1676: :

"The last Wednesday in August next, will be run for, on Winchester Downs, a considerable Plate (for which none but gentlemen are to ride); four mile heats; fourteen stone without the saddle, or fourteen stone two pounds and a half with the saddle." (Fancy a light weight of fourteen stone in a two-pound-and-a-half saddle). "And the Marquis of Winchester has engaged to give another Plate to that horse which shall run second to this.

"The City of Winchester will, next day, give another Fourteenstone-gentlemen Plate; which plates are to continue for seven years."

We pass over the reigns of James II., Mary, and William III. (who, en passant, be it said, increased the number of Royal Plates, and frequently visited Newmarket), and come to Queen Anne's, merely to lay before our readers an interesting race that took place, though unconnected with gentlemen riding, at York, in 1714, three days before the Queen's death, and which led to a remark, that the Queen had won a race after her demise.

Friday, the 30th July, a Plate of £40, for aged horses, 11 st. each; four-mile heats.

Three others were distanced in the first heat. Merlin was lame before starting. Mem. sixteen miles for forty pounds, rayther severe.

Previous to this, in 1712, Queen Anne's gr. g. Pepper ran fifth and third for Her Majesty's Gold Cup, at York; and, in 1713, the Queen's nutmeg gr. h. (he ought to have been a spicy one) Mustard, by the Taffolet, or Morroco Barb, ran seventh and fifth, at York, for Her Majesty's Gold Cup.

In America, too, we find gentlemen riding established, as the following account from the United States "Turf Register" will prove :

"The two longest races ever run in the United States, were won by Medley and a descendant of Clockfast. One race was forty-four miles, heats twenty-two miles each; and the other, thirty-two miles, one heat seventeen, and the next fifteen miles. In both cases they were ridden by gentlemen."

But to the present day. Some caustic writer has described gentlemen's riding in the following terms; certainly not very complimentary to the aspirants of the cap and jacket: "The display is, with very few exceptions, sprawling and disgraceful to the last possible degree; you see nothing but waving arms, and yellow leather breeches in convulsions. The exertion, at the commencement, is strong and terrific; the finish is, will without power, like children playing at soldiers." Now, though we are bound to admit that, in too many instances, we have seen the above account realized-arms waving like a semaphore telegraph ; legs moving like those of a pasteboard figure, pulled by strings; and riders even in a greater hurry than their steeds to get home, literally bringing their horses to the grand stand-still! we have witnessed very many exceptions, and have seen some riding that would have done

credit to Newmarket. In our day, what can exceed the neatness and judgment of a Wilton; the good jockeyship of a Howth; the quickness of a Villiers; the power of a White; the iron nerve of a Waterford; the perfect horsemanship of a Baird; the boldness of a Berkeley; the lightning eye of a Peyton? In addition to the above, the turf performances of Sir F. Johnstone, Captain Richardson, Colonel Bouverie, Mr. M'Donough, the two Williams's, Captains Pettat and Gardnor, and last, not least, in our estimation, the Earl of March (who, at the Goodwood Meeting, 1839, gave goodly promise of becoming a first-rate jockey), will ever give a satisfactory answer to the anathemas levelled against gentlemen riders.

In days gone by, the Gentlemen Riding Meetings of Bibury and Maddington flourished, as the following list of patrons will prove:H.R. H. the Prince of Wales, Duke of St. Albans, Lords Sackville, Jersey, Frederick Bentinck, Charles Somerset, Lowther, Sirs H. Lippincott, Godfrey Webster, Henry Peyton; Messrs. Lindow, Douglas, Mellish, and Delmé Radcliffe, who, we believe, once rode for the Derby. It was not until the year 1814 that jockeys were allowed to ride at either of the above meetings. Latterly, the Bibury Club has been remodelled, and flourishes, at Stockbridge. Within a few years, Stapleton, Lambton, and Heaton Park Races have "borne the bell." The former commenced in 1822, and were carried on with great spirit, in that year and the following, in the park of the Hon. Edward Petre, a most liberal and honourable supporter of the turf. In 1823, a fatal accident occurred, which threw a great damp upon the meetingthe death of the Hon. Charles Trevor, who was killed when riding McReady, for the Gold Cup given by the public-spirited proprietor. The unfortunate gentleman came in contact with a post, and was so severely injured that he only survived a week. In 1824, the meeting was removed to Pontefract, and carried on there until 1825. In the former year, one of the gentlemen jockeys, whom we have before enumerated, Mr. White, distinguished himself by winning five races out of six. Lambton Park was distinguished by an uninterrupted course of sport for five years, commencing in 1821; the noble and munificent owner doing all in his power to promote sport. Heaton Park commenced in 1827, and only terminated in 1838. It was the very beau idéal of a private meeting, incontestably the best in England. Now, we hope our readers have remarked, that, in enumerating the riders of England, we have, "with a modesty" that, in the language of the author of "Tom Thumb," will, we trust, prove 66 a flambeau to our understanding," carefully abstained from mentioning ourselves; and, to prevent a charge of egotism in our future pages, we think it right to say, that, in giving our reminiscences of gentlemen riding, we merely make ourselves pegs, upon which we hang the anecdotes of the cap and jacket; we ought to say-cap, cocked-hat, and jacket; for, in modern days, cocked-hat stakes have been in vogue. When, and by whom, such an absurdity was introduced, we are unable to say. It flourished for some few years at Hampton; and even at Goodwood. Why gentlemen were called upon to make themselves appear ridiculous (some of our readers will exclaim, "more" ridiculous), and subject themselves to the annoyance of being made the laughing-stock of every gaping country yahoo and booby, we are at a loss to understand:

besides, the principle, if a good one, ought to have been more fully carried out. Riders appearing in cocked-hats were allowed 7b; if absurdity was the object, there ought to have been a tariff, something to the following effect: "Gentlemen in powdered heads, bag-wigs, and court dresses, allowed 8b; gentlemen tattooing their faces like the Esquimaux Indians, or, to come nearer home for a simile, like the adhesive medallion of Her Majesty, after passing through the general Penny-tentiary, 9 b; gentlemen with black faces, 74b; gentlemen in masks, 7 lb; and gentlemen who, between the heats, will grin through a horse-collar for ten minutes, eat hot hasty pudding, climb up a greased pole, or dip for penny rolls into a jar of treacle, 10 b. Allowances not to be accumulative.

But to our "start." Never shall we forget our first attempt; it was very nearly being our last-(how important the editorial plural sounds): but we will drop it. It was during a cricket-match, in the Park of Enghein, near Brussels, the head quarters of the first division, a few weeks before the battle Waterloo

"I was a goodly stripling then;

At forty years I so may say,

For I had strength, youth, gaiety;"

moreover, I was Extra A. D. C. to Sir Peregrine Maitland, who commanded a brigade of Guards. A match was made between an English and a Cossack horse, catch weights, once round the course, which was a circle of about half a mile, bounded on one side by a sheet of water, and studded on the other by a richly wooded plantation. The owner of the English Pegasus rode his own; and, being a light weight, I was put on the Cossack. Having exchanged my jean cricket-jacket for a scarlet one, and black cap, I mounted, and paraded in front of the cricket tent," pavoniggiarsiing" (there is no translating this word) "myself upon my appearance." My orders were to "take the lead, and keep it." The word, off, was given; and, in a moment, I found myself a second Mazeppa; the brute had a mouth as hard as a Russian knout.

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bolted between two trees; coming in contact with one, I was dashed with violence against the other, and taken up for dead. I remained in a state of delirium for three days, given over by all the medical men; on the third morning I awoke, as from a trance, rubbed my eyes, and beheld a scene that baffles all description. I was lying in a pavillion in the park, on a bed formed of two large tables; a solitary rushlight flickered in a candlestick, whose dim light enabled me to see the grim visage of a veteran, my batman. I attempted to speak; the exertion was too much; I fell into a doze. Soon the morning dawned; again I awoke; I tried to raise my arm; it had been broken in two places: I had received a violent contusion on my head, and had been trepanned. Within a few weeks, thanks to youth and a good constitution, I was enabled to figure again as a gentleman jockey, on the plains of Neuilly,