CARDSELLERS, TOUTS, AND AUGURS. 181 



The oddest piece of second sight we remember was 

 that of a Newmarket trainer, who dreamt, after 

 Knight of St. George was nearly last for the Derby, 

 that he would win the St. Leger ; and dreaming it a 

 second time, on the eve of the race, sent a com- 

 mission to back him ; while the prophecy of Vates, 

 which ended with 



" Tis over the trick for the thousands is done 

 George Edwards on Phosphorus the Derby has won !" 



is the most remarkable on record, save and except 

 one in Mr. Snewing's 1845 circular, which actually 

 placed Intrepid (a complete outsider) first, and St. 

 Lawrence second for the Chester Cup, some months 

 before the race. The clairvoyante female, too, no 

 longer offers to consult the stars for thirty postage- 

 stamps, on a Derby eve, but has shrunk into her 

 " original tipster" dimensions. If " Maria" could 

 only be seen by mortal eye, she would be in a cut- 

 away and high-lows ! 



Race reporting is a distinct branch of writing, and 

 was first reduced to a perfect science by the late Mr. 

 Huff, who commenced his labours on The Life soon 

 after 1820, and continued them till the summer of 

 1853, when he retired, and never visited a race- 

 course again, during the three-and-a-half seasons 

 which intervened between his retirement and his 

 death. His race reports were marvellous specimens 

 of pithy condensation, and his conversation was 

 strictly on the same "potted soup" principle. In 

 Mr.Langley's hands The Life has well sustained its 

 " Nunquam Dormio" prestige ; and Mr. RufFs place 

 as sporting reporter to the daily papers is capitally 

 supplied by Mr. A. Feist, of the Sunday Times, who 

 succeeded his father. The late Mr. Feist was a man 

 of very varied accomplishments, and the judge and 

 several of the leading jockeys were his pupils when 

 he wielded the ferule in Newmarket. Railway 



