lyo THE TURF 



But we may be told that racing or rather 

 betting on racing, supposed to be essential 

 to its existence cannot go on without what 

 are called the * legs ' (described by an old 

 writer on sporting subjects 'as the most 

 unprincipled and abandoned set of thieves 

 and harpies that ever disgraced civilised 

 society'); and that pecuniary obligations 

 are commonly discharged by them with as 

 much integrity and despatch as by the most 

 respectable persons in the commercial world. 

 Undoubtedly they are ; for if they fail to be 

 so, the adventurer is driven from the ground 

 on which he hopes to fatten. * I would give 

 fifty thousand pounds for a bit of character,' 

 said the old sinner Charteris ; ' for if I had 

 that, I think I could make a plum of it ' ; 

 and the rogues of our day, though not so 

 witty, are quite as knowing as the venerable 

 colonel. 1 



Woe befall the day when Englishmen 

 look lightly on such desperate inroads upon 

 public morals as have lately passed under 

 their eyes on race-courses ! Do they lose 

 sight of the fact, that whoever commits a 



1 The word ' rogue ' is obsolete on the modern turf ; 

 the term ' clever man ' has superseded it. 



