THE TURF. 
only won two thousand pounds, and the manor-bowl in 
the good city of Salisbury ! * But nothing can now-a- 
days be got by plating ; and the contest by heats, many 
of them four miles with high weights, borders on 
cruelty. On the other hand, out of nearly thirty races 
last year, at Liverpool, there were only three run at 
heats, and not one four-mile race. At Newmarket 
there have been no heats, except for a town-plate, since 
1772, a most beneficial change, and creditable to the 
feeling of British sportsmen. This, indeed, is as it 
should be ; man should on no account inflict unnecessary 
labour on the horse, and, above all, on the race-horse. 
From no apparent motive but that generous spirit of 
emulation which distinguishes him above most other 
animals, and entitles him to our high regard, how he 
struggles to serve and gratify us ! All these things 
considered, we are inclined to wish well to country 
racing, as, in itself, a harmless privileged pleasure, 
which all classes have the power to partake of; indeed, 
we envy not the man whose heart is not gladdened by 
the many happy faces on a country race-course. In 
fact, the passion for racing, like that of hunting, is 
constitutionally inherent in man, and we cannot reform 
nature without extinguishing it altogether. The Isth- 
mian games suffered no intermission, even when Corinth 
* He won eleven king's plates, carrying twelve stone in all but one ; 
was never beaten ; and always ridden without whip or spurs. He died, 
27th of February, 1789. The "manor-bowl" is still a prize, and was won 
at the last meeting by a horse belonging to Mr. Stevens the trainer, at Isley, 
Berkshire. 
