i88 THE TURF 



settling-day within our recollection. There 

 was less money forthcoming than ever was 

 known ; and one noble lord, a book -winner 

 of ten thousand pounds, was only able to 

 draw three thousand pounds ; while others 

 actually went prepared to pay, whereas they 

 ought to have been large winners. We are 

 happy to add that the blackleg fraternity 

 were the heavy losers, and upon the old 

 proverb of "ex nihilo nihil fit" no better 

 settling could be expected. Until gentle- 

 men and men of reputation separate them- 

 selves from such unworthy associates, 

 betting and book-making must continue a 

 mere farce. 7 



As we well know that a huge fortune was 

 made in the betting-ring by a certain person 

 now deceased, who could neither read nor 

 write, and that one of the heaviest bettors 

 of the present day is in the same state of 

 blessed ignorance, 1 we may safely conclude, 



1 We have here, perhaps, the only instance of 

 palpable arithmetic in these days ; still it is truly 

 characteristic. The ancient Greeks kept their accounts 

 by the means of pebbles, and so does this modern 

 Athenian, shifting them from pocket to pocket as events 

 come off; and, although a heavy bettor in the New- 

 market ring, he is generally correct. Perhaps he may 



