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116

MOST MEN HAVE THEIR PRICE.

temper. I should say a long striding horse heavily weighted would not go up the hill on Lichfield Course quite like a bird. They say, a pig may fly; but we allow him to be a most unpromising aëronaut. I consider a horse that extends himself too much with weight on him to be in a general way as unpromising a winner.

If it is supposed, from what I have said of trainers and public training establishments, that I entertain an unfavourable opinion of the former on the score of integrity, or of the latter from thinking that in a general way any wilful neglect takes place in them, I beg to say that I really entertain no such impressions of either. So much the reverse are my convictions respecting trainers, that I verily believe there is no class of men living who so frequently resist temptation to do wrong. As trainers and jockeys of the higher orders, their temptations are great in amount and of daily occurrence. Let three-and-twenty thousand pounds be offered as a temptation to many men now ranking high on the Turf or in the world's general opinion, are we sure all of such men would resist such a fortune as a bribe? I have the honour of being acquainted with many that I am sure would; but I think I know of some where the result would be very doubtful; nay, who I am quite sure would throw over their friends as well as the public in a race on such terms. If three-and-twenty thousand are not offered every day or year, the odd three are, and that to some trainers or some jockeys would be as difficult to resist as the larger sum to the man of larger means. The matter of our surprise, therefore, should be, not that such men sometimes are led away by unprincipled bribes offered, and persuasion made use

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of by men much more unprincipled than themselves, but that they do resist such so frequently as they do. The man who does not may deserve transportation, we will allow; but the old system of hanging should still have been left in force for the benefit of the scoundrel who tempted the other from the path of rectitude. When trainers and jockeys do (as numbers have done and now daily do) resist such temptations, I can only say I consider such men hold out a bright example of integrity not unworthy of imitation by the highest of the aristocracy of the kingdom. Let those that are guiltless throw the first stone.

Various are the accusations brought forward every day by one class of individuals against another, sometimes based on justice and truth, and oftentimes founded in error, taking its origin sometimes from prejudiced representation made by a third party, or from misconception or prejudice on the part of the accuser. This holds equally good whether the accused party be peer or peasant, with this difference, that in this, as Napoleon styled us, "nation of shopkeepers," it takes a great deal of proof and a great deal of money to convict a rich man, whereas something like vice versâ is the case if the culprit happens to be a poor one. Now really this is quite proper, for if it takes £100 to convict one culprit, it must in common ratio take £200 to convict two, which two the poor culprit is the much to be envied representative of in his own proper person. He has, therefore, to be convicted twice; first, for being poor'; and secondly, for the crime itself, no matter of what nature it may be. I do not mean to say, that fas aut nefas the poor are condemned as guilty; but as without money it is very hard for any man to prove his innocence, if from ·

118

POINT D'ARGENT, POINT DE SUISSE.

the want of money he cannot prove that innocence, of course from the want of his innocence being proved it is quite right and proper he should be condemned.

I believe there is such a thing in some few cases as suing in what is termed in formâ pauperis, and a very poor way of suing I believe it is generally found to be, and a poor prospect, I conceive, opens to him compelled to such a mode of proceeding. Not being conversant with such things, I do not know if I am correct; but I suppose a man may also defend himself by the same means, when I conclude his prospect of success would be about as bright as in the other case; but even allowing that poor people cannot get justice, they have no right to complain if they only look at the thing in a proper point of view, which, as a matter of course, is the view the rich take of it. "There is law for the poor man as well as the rich:" so there are pine-apples; these are only 7s. 6d. a pound, and to get justice is certainly not more than a penny a word. The poor man says he cannot afford to eat pines at 7s. 6d. per pound: well then, he must do without them, and does so: in fact, he has no right to expect to get them or anything else intended for aristocratic mouths. Why then, if he cannot afford to pay a penny a word for justice, should he be so unreasonable as to expect to get justice? I hate such discontented people.

If I should be asked whether I mean to infer that any Gentleman of the Long Robe would advocate a cause less strenuously when doing so pour l'amour de bon Dieu than he would from having received a good retainer, with something handsome in prospective, I beg to decline answering such an interrogatory, and leave it to the gentleman's conscience: but, sup

NOTHING LIKE CROSSING THE PALM.

119

posing him to be ever so well inclined towards his client, I may perhaps in some degree illustrate what will be his feelings by an anecdote of a huntsman not that I mean or consider there is any affinity between the honesty of a huntsman and a denizen of Stone Buildings: God forbid there should be!

A huntsman had hunted the hounds of a gentleman not overburthened with money, who had permitted him to cap. The man had always shown good sport, rode well up to his hounds, and killed his foxes. He afterwards hunted the hounds of a nobleman, who disliked the capping system; told the man so; and, on learning what he had usually made during a season in his last place, liberally made up his wages to that amount. It was, however, soon remarked that the man neither rode as bold as formerly, nor killed his foxes in his former style. He was aware of this himself; so, fearing he might be complained of, he waited on his lord, and respectfully but plumply told him he must either be allowed to cap or must quit his situation. His lord was astonished, and asked if he had not as good a place as his former one? He allowed he had even a better; "but, my Lord,” says the man, "I wish to show your lordship and the gentlemen sport, and try all I can, but for the life of me I cannot ride or kill a fox as I did when I used to feel the money after a kill."

I wonder whether the same feeling is experienced by legal gentlemen.

I have been led into the above observations from considering that a man keeping race-horses under a public trainer, and not being himself a good judge of racing matters, stands in about the same situation as

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TRYING SITUATIONS.

a man pleading in formâ pauperis, where his advocate is not personally interested in a pecuniary way in the success of the suit. It may be said that the counsel and the trainer have their character at stake. We allow they have; but there is a wide difference between doing enough to save character, and doing all that could be done for any cause, be that cause one in Chancery or one from the "Ditch-in." The pleader or the trainer may feel a certain wish to show their several abilities by being successful, and perhaps to a certain degree do: but depend upon it they feel a much greater wish for success where that success brings in a rich harvest. In the case of the trainer, however, we must remember that the chances may be quite as many that he makes money by the horse losing as by his winning; and as he may command the means of making him lose, but cannot those of making him win, the losing is most likely to be to him the winning side in very many cases: indeed, in the long run, supposing the man to be a rogue, it would be decidedly the sure game for him to play. If we want a man of strict integrity, with a high sense of honour and with a personal feeling of interest for our success (in any situation in life), to act for us, in no place is it wanted more than in the person who is intrusted with the care of a racing establishment: where we have not such a man, and keep horses in training, we are always sitting on a barrel of gunpowder.

"Human nature is human nature still," and nothing but highly-wrought feelings of honour or personal attachment will induce a man to forego his own interest for the sake of others. Are we sure to meet the former, or have we any right to expect the latter

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