THE EAELS OF DEKBY. 39 



A sketch of this description would not be complete without special 

 reference to the relations which existed for so many years between 

 Lord Derby and his trainer, John Scott. It is related that during 

 the period the latter trained for the earl there was the most perfect 

 understanding between them. No sort of disagreement ever seemed 

 to mar the harmony of their intercourse, a fact which must, we 

 think, have been due in a great measure to the success which at- 

 tended the undertaking in which they were jointly concerned. The 

 utmost confidence prevailed on both sides. There was none of that 

 undue familiarity which is sometimes seen between owner and trainer; 

 for Lord Derby, though he was one of the most affable of men, had 

 somewhat of an imperious and haughty style about him which 

 repelled famiHarity ; whilst John Scott had too much sterling good 

 sense to step beyond the due boundary of proper respect. Lord 

 Derby, too, was, in every relation of life, not only a just but a generous 

 man. He knew that Scott's opinions were worth listening to, and that 

 his suggestions were based upon long experience and mature judg- 

 ment. So it came to pass that the noble owner and his trainer 

 remained for so many years upon the best possible terms. It must 

 be recollected also that Lord Derby was scarcely what may be called 

 a betting man ; he certainly backed his horses for sums which he 

 could well afford to lose, but he was no " plunger," indeed there was 

 nothing he more cordially detested than the making of reckless bets, 

 and therefore, when he lost, had no reason to fall foul of his trainer, 

 as is sometimes the case. His visits to Whitewall were among the 

 most gratifying of his recreations. He delighted in his walk over 

 Langton Wold, and the inspection of his stables afterwards has been 

 described as the enjoyment of a schoolboy released from the restraints 

 and tasks of the pedagogue. Here he was free from the turmoil and 

 clamour of political life ; here no hard and dry arguments upon 

 Catholic Emancipation, the Eeform Bill, and the Corn Laws troubled 

 his mind. He was no longer here the " Eupert of Debate," fiery and 

 furious, chivalrously ready to do battle for the cause he had espoused 

 against all comers and any odds. At Whitewall politics did not 

 enter into the conversation ; John Scott had nothing of the politician 

 about him, and the two could talk peacefully about colts and fillies, 

 Derbys and St. Legers, as though neither had any other business in 

 life to attend to. Despite his many other and most onerous duties, 

 the late earl was a very frequent visitor at English race-courses, and 

 no one apparently enjoyed a good race more than the noble owner of 

 Knowsley, in which respect he very much resembled his fi'iend and 

 co-politician, Lord George Bentinck. We have said that the " most 

 perfect understanding " existed between Lord Derby and John Scott. 

 It appears, however, that there was at least a chance of that under- 

 standing being broken had it not been for the calm good sense of the 

 one and the sterling honesty of the other. Lord Derby had a horse 

 named Acrobat, which won for him altogether £5,530, and in 1854, 

 after the race for the Doncaster Stakes, an attack was made upon 



