374 ANNALS OF THE ROAD. 



when ; but certainly revived as a religious ceremony 

 about nine hundred years before Christ. One Iphitus, 

 an Elean, has generally the credit of their revival ; and 

 they were cehbrated near to a city called Olympia, in the 

 territory of Elis, in Greece — a country celebrated for 

 good horses. Horse and chariot racing were considered 

 their noblest sports, although many other tastes might be 

 gratified. Olympia was their Newmarket ; they had 

 their Jockey Club, their judges, and clerks of the course, 

 as at the present day ; and there were chariot races 

 for horses of various ages. The utmost regularity pre- 

 vailed, and — though Greeks — it is asserted that they 

 were not up to a cross. 



My object here may easily be seen, to form some 

 little comparison between past and present days ; and at 

 the same time, if it be necessary, to offer an apology — or, 

 rather, a precedent — for the gentlemen dragsmen of our 

 own age. The ancient Greeks were said to hold out the 

 torch of knowledge, and their taste in the arts was a 

 guide to the world. What they did, therefore, could not 

 have been considered bad taste ; and when we remember 

 that the celebration of these their favourite pastimes out- 

 lived the laws, the customs, the liberty, and, I believe, the 

 religion of their country, we know not how to condemn 

 them. Let us, however, produce a few memorable in- 

 stances of the veneration (amounting, indeed, almost to 

 insanity) in which the worthies of antiquity held a victory 

 at the Olympic games. 



It is related of Philip, King of Macedonia, that in one 

 day he heard of three great events — a signal victory, the 



