CAUSE OF DETERIORATION 63 



of the boys will the better enable them to teach 

 the girls their gambling and horse-breeding notions. 

 But it does not want any Education Act to spoil 

 boys that are beset all day long, whenever they 

 are out of sight of their masters, with requests 

 for ' tips,' and who in exchange ' get well tipped ' for 

 their information, be it good or bad. It is greatly 

 from such sources, highly developed during many 

 years, that the fable spreads that the thoroughbred 

 is a pure and independent breed of horse-flesh. 



I desire emphatically to say that I express no 

 opinion whatever as to the accuracy of the state- 

 ments of the reverend gentleman to whom I have 

 referred, or of others that I shall presently cite, as 

 to the alleged evil actions of some of the King's 

 subjects in respect of racing. My readers must 

 judge of that for themselves, for I claim no 

 authority in this matter. I have never had the 

 value of a penny on a racehorse, and have only 

 been on a racecourse four times in my life. All 

 that I assert is that there is much betting, and that 

 that and sprinting are ruining the thoroughbred. 



I have no prejudice against the thoroughbred or 

 against races. I own one or two thoroughbreds, 

 have raced one or two, won a race with one of 

 them, have owned two or three others which have 

 won races, and I have bred two or three more. I 

 do not belong to the Salvation Army, and I do 

 not want to rival the parson ; but I cannot help 

 seeing that as sprinting has ruined the breed of 



