THE BRIGHTON ROAD 221 



till many of the young sprigs dropped off their parches ; 

 while the ould ones felt the influence of the dustman, and 

 were glad to drop their nobs to obtain forty winks. 

 Those persons whose blunt enabled them to procure beds, 

 could not obtain any sleep, for carriages of every de- 

 scription were passing through the above towns all 

 night. Things passed on in this manner till daylight 

 began to peep. Then the swells in their barouches and 

 four, and the swift trotting fanciers, all hurried from the 

 metropolis, and the road exhibited the bustle of the 

 primest day of Epsom Races. The brilliants also left 

 Brighton and Worthing at about the same period, and 

 thus were the roads thronged in every direction. The 

 weather at length cleared up, and by twelve o'clock the 

 amphitheatre on Crawley Down had a noble effect, and 

 thousands of persons were assembled at the above spot. 

 It is supposed if the carriages had all been placed in 

 one line they would have reached from London to 

 Crawley. The amateurs were of the highest distinction, 

 and several noblemen and foreigners of rank were upon 

 the ground." 



Regent and emperor putting up at a wayside inn to 

 witness a fight for the championship ! Young sprigs 

 chaunting and swiping till they dropped off their 

 perches ! The swells in their barouches and four hurrying 

 from the metropolis ! The noblemen and foreigners of 

 rank crowding round the twenty-four foot ring ! What can 

 give us a better idea of the Brighton Road in its prime 

 than these facts ? What paint more vividly what I call 

 its " Regency flavour," its slang, its coarseness, its 

 virility — in a word, its " Corinth ianism " ? 



