AT LARGE 5 



swelled the crowd ; nor was the Opposition un- 

 represented. Montagu stole two or three days 

 from the Treasury, and Orford from the Admiralty ; 

 Godolphin was there, looking after his horses and 

 his bets, and probably went away a richer man than 

 he came " — an astute inhabitant of the con- 

 temporary racing world. 



I will not linger over a retrospect of the curious 

 and varied sights that have been seen by those who 

 have stood upon the top of the immemorial ditch. 

 Nowadays the superstitious take off their hats 

 to it as they speed by in the train : the act is 

 supposed to propitiate the little sprite I have 

 mentioned, and some of his devotees would on no 

 account omit their reverence. I well recollect the 

 anxiety of old John Day to make his obeisance, 

 when his eyes were dim and he feared he might 

 pass the famous landmark with covered head. He 

 anxiously enquired whether it was not close at 

 hand, whether we were not there, whether — 

 alarming thought ! — we had not passed it ; and, 

 warned at the critical moment, his hat was duly 

 raised. The late Duke of Beaufort also did not 

 fail thus to greet the ditch ; many times I have 

 seen him smilingly salute, not because he believed 

 in the superstition, but because it was the custom. 



That is enough about the last century, and very 



