DISRAELI AND THE RACE-COURSE 



Disraeli had submitted to an embrace and to the 

 effusiv^e congratulations of admirers on the occasion 

 of his trenchant indictment of Palmerston.* 



It is late : the hour of supper, a repast pre- 

 pared by the renowned Ude, the Club's accom- 

 plished maitre d'hotel of those days.* The night is 

 close and warm, and thunder rolls in the heavens. 

 The macaroni of Society and the young exquisites 

 of the Guards are taking the odds and studying 

 their betting-books. 



" I'll take the odds against Caravan. In ponies ? 

 Done." Then comes the satiric touch at the 

 expense of artless youth. " How shall we all 

 feel to-morrow ? The happiest fellow at this 

 moment must be Cockie Graves : he can have no 

 suspense," said Lord Milford : " I have been 

 looking at his book and I defy him, whatever 

 happens, not to lose." " Poor Cockie," said Mr. 

 Berners, " he has asked me to dine with him on 

 Saturday." One of the youths declares his faith 

 in Caravan : " Mark my words," says another, 

 " Rat-trap wins." " You used to be all for Phos- 



His disappointment over his horse, Ratan, who with fair play must 

 have won the Derby of 1844, proved fatal, and on the Friday in 

 Epsom week he died in his magnificent mansion in Carlton House 

 Terrace within a week of his seventieth year. 



» Life of Disraeli, vol. ii. p. 128. 



» The year after this event Ude was dismissed. He had admitted 

 to the Committee of the Club that he was worth ;^4,ooo a year. 

 In spite of this fortune he was miserable in retirement, and sat 

 all day with his hands before him doing nothing. He shed tears, 

 and told George Wombwell that he had only been twice in St. 

 James's Street since his dismissal, and that he never walked on 

 the same side of the street as the Clubhouse. To Wombwell he 

 said : " Ah ! I love that Club, though they are ingrais. Do not 

 be offended if I do not take my hat ofi to you when we meet." 

 Wombwell replied : "I shall always take my hat off to you, Mr. 

 Ude." From a letter of Disraeli to his sister, Life of Disraeli, vol. ii. 

 P- 39. 



105 



