APPENDIX. 447 



ilic Jouhle ownership of the mares was generally believed. Thia 

 sort of thing is all very well to those who cannot see that the dis- 

 oovor}'- of weighty evidence should ever cause a change of opin- 

 ion ; but it is also liable to a sort of objection once noticed by 

 Senator Thurman of Ohio, in a speech to the Supreme Court on 

 an opponent's brief. "There is," said he, "a good deal of 

 weighty argument here which has been ably copied, but the 

 learned gentleman who has adopted it seems to be unaware that 

 there has been a discovery of facts and a change of premises 

 since the right owner used it. And besides, the copied part, by 

 contrast, makes what the learned gentleman says on his own ac- 

 count seems so weak and poor, that the effect is bad for him and 

 unfortunate for his client." 



The question of this record has been practically disposed of by 

 performances of Goldsmith Maid at a later period elsewhere ; but 

 the account given above will be of use, if it serves to direct the 

 notice of people to that which was really in issue, and to put con- 

 sideration of principles in place of mere prejudice. At the time 

 of the race it was made to some extent, a personal question, in- 

 stead of one depending upon the rules and principles of racing and 

 affecting the reputation of horses. This was all wrong. It is a 

 perilous error to judge of horses according to your likings or dis- 

 likings of the owners of them. The reasoning of the fool runs 

 tlius: " O'Kelly was a great rogue, and Eclipse cannot have been 

 a first-rate horse. Captain Moore is a rover and a Bedouin, there- 

 fore the merits of Idlewild and Mollie Jackson must have been 

 small and the bets ought to be taken from Bayonet though he 

 has won this cup. Colonel McDaniels is a veteran and inveterate 

 growler and brawler, therefore I will bet against Harry Bassett 

 for the Belmont stakes. Lord Jersey is a tory, and his wife th« 

 most haughty beauty of the court, so I shall lay all my money 

 against Bay Middleton." This sort of people exclaimed: "Mr. 

 Bonner buys up the best horses and takes them from the course, 

 therefore Dexter's record ought to be got ri J of by hook or crook ! ' 



