110 FAMOUS K AGING MEN. 



higli sense of honour, eould not believe a gentleman capable of 

 stating what was untrue, yt't, as a rule, all attempts to throw dust in 

 his eyes signally failed, and his remarkable astuteness and ceaseless 

 vigilance did much to keep within bounds the undoubted scope for 

 dishonesty and chicanery which the system of big handicaps affords. 

 In the year 1865 it was proposed by some of the leading sportsmen 

 in the racing world to present a testimonial to one who had done 

 such signal service to the turf. Mr. J. B. Morris started a subscrip- 

 tion hook at Salisbury races, and €1,000 was subscribed in the course 

 of a few hours, a sum which was subsequently swelled to upwards of 

 £3,000. The acting committee of the fund were Mr. Padwick, Mr. 

 0. Weatherby, Mr. E. Tattersall, Mr. J. Weatherby, Mr. Edmund 

 Tattersall, Mr. H. Hill, and Mr. J. B. Morris, and they decided that the 

 testimonial should take the form of three magnificent silver candela- 

 bra, the execution of which was entrusted to Messrs. Hunt and Koskell 

 and C. F. Hancock, in addition to wl^ich the admiral was requested 

 to sit for his })ortrait to Mr. Henry Weigall. The testimonial was to 

 have been presented on June 4th, 1866 ; but in consequence of the 

 serious illness of the popular Earl of Chesterfield, who died during 

 Ascot week, it was postponed to June 18th (Waterloo Day), when it 

 was presented to Admiral Rous at a dinner held in Willis's Rooms, 

 the chair being occupied by Earl Granville, who was supported right 

 and left by the guest of the evening and the present Duke of 

 Beaufort. Amongst those present were many bright ornaments of the 

 world of sport, who long preceded the gallant admiral in their passage 

 " over to the majority," for exam})le, the Marquis of Anglesea, tht^ 

 ill-fated Marquis of Hastings, the Mar(|uis of Annesley, tlie Earl of 

 Cardigan, the Earl of Lonsdale (uncle of the young nobleman whose 

 untimely death occurred but recently). Colonel (.)useley Higgins, and 

 last, but not least, Sam Rogers and William Butler, who were so long 

 identified with Admiral Rous in the pursuit of the sport he loved so 

 well, and did so much to elevate. To Earl Granville was entrusted the 

 task of making the presentation speech, a task of which he acquitted 

 himself in his iisual happy and graceful style. " At an age," said the 

 speaker, "when most landsmen are in the nursery, the admiral was 

 hard at work, engaged in defending the honour and the interests of 

 his country ; at one time under fire in ships, at another commanding 

 dangerous boat expeditions, often in dire peril of his life ; and 

 never, perhaps, more so than when left, as he once was, alone, hang- 

 ing on the keel of a capsized boat, five miles from shore. By his 

 retirement from the active duties of his profession, the racing world 

 was undoubtedly an immense gainer ; but it was still a moot point 

 whether the navy had not lost more than the turf had gained ; and 

 he (Ijord Granville), as an Englishman, was not sure that Admiral 

 Rous had not had a more distinguished career before him on sea than 

 on land." Passing on to the great sport with which the admiral had 

 been for so many years identified, I^ord Granville proceeded to say, 

 "There are dark spots on the sun, and racing has its dark as well as 



