12 THE RACING WORLD 



there is any subject upon which we should agree 

 except the probable accuracy of the multiplication 

 table — but I believe it none the less true that bets 

 are sometimes made from other motives than a 

 mere sordid desire to make money without working 

 for it. A man may, and frequently does, bet 

 simply from an anxiety to vindicate his judgment. 

 There is a great satisfaction to many people in 

 being able to say " I told you so ! " when some- 

 thing has fallen out as they anticipated ; and the 

 expression is emphasised when they have backed 

 up their conviction with a wager. And on the 

 subject of betting I am reminded of the utterance 

 of another legal luminary, a Judge of the King's 

 Bench Division, who, in the course of a trial not 

 long since, with what he supposed to be pene- 

 trating wisdom, the result of that wide knowledge 

 of the world which all judges, of course, possess, 

 solemnly cautioned all and sundry " never to take 

 a cheque from a bookmaker." In the course of 

 the last five and twenty years I have taken a great 

 many cheques from members of the Ring, and, 

 oddly enough, every single one of them has proved 

 an exception to the rule which his lordship so 

 astutely laid down. During this period I have 

 frequently written warnings against the folly of 

 betting, and have given what I believe to be the 



