564 HISTORY OF THE 



to apply to a Mr. Woodcock, who kept stables 

 four or five miles from Newmarket, where he 

 trained horses entrusted to his care. Mr. Wood- 

 cock examined me, asked my age, found I was 

 light of weight, and, as I suppose, liking the 

 answers I gave to his questions, to our very great 

 joy, agreed to take me upon trial. 



" In the course of my life, there have been 

 several changes that, each in their turn, greatly 

 affected my spirits, and gave me advantages far 

 beyond what I had ever before enjoyed. Of these 

 gradual elevations, this was the first. I should 

 now be somebody. I should be entrusted with the 

 management of one of that race of creatures that 

 were the most admired and beloved by me : I 

 should be well clothed, wear a livery, which 

 would shew I belonged to one of the great : I 

 should not only have food enough, but of that 

 kind which was highly relishing to the appetite of 

 youth ; and, in addition to all this, should receive 

 an annual stipend. I jumped, as it were, from a 

 precarious and mean existence, where I could not 

 tell what worse might happen, into a permanent 

 and agreeable employment. I had only to learn 

 to ride, and perform the duties of a stable-boy, of 

 which I had no fear, for I supposed them far less 

 difficult than I afterwards found they were. 



" The grooms that resided at, and in the vicinity 

 of, this famed town, are all, more or less, ac- 

 quainted with each other ; and on Mr. Wood- 



