210 THE SPORTING WORLD. 



Thus, if steeple-racing is to be reprobated 

 on tlie one hand it is to be commended on the 

 other. People are not compelled to bet, and if 

 any one does so on a steeple-race he is no 

 more to be pitied than is the foolish fellow 

 who exposes his fingers to the flame of a 

 lighted candle. Latterly not one in half-a-dozen 

 comes off without being a preconcerted do ; it 

 must ever be so in cases where the practised 

 leg can carry on his game with small chance 

 of detection. There is a person of a certain de- 

 scription born every hour; while those continue 

 to be born betting on these events will go on, 

 and while it does steeple-racing will go on, 

 and as many other infamous practices do, proba- 

 bly prosper. 



I in no way mean to impugn steeple chase 

 riders as being in the ordinary transactions of 

 life one whit less to be trusted than other 

 men, but they have become so habituated 

 to consider steeple races as a mode by which 



