FOURTH PERIOD: VICTORIA 239 



jockey, on retiring (whether as a prima donna 

 from the stage, with many reappearances in petto, 

 or strictly bond fide) from his ' profession,' was 

 presented at Newmarket, by the senior Steward 

 of the Jockey Club, assisted (as they say in the 

 announcements of fashionable weddings) by 

 another Steward of the club (a ' belted Earl '), and 

 two other members (one a British judge, and the 

 other a British Attorney-General), with an ' ad- 

 dress ' and a cheque for ^3,600 (subscribed by 

 admirers all over the country) in acknowledgment 

 of the jockey's ' fidelity and rectitude ' during a 

 period of ' well-nigh half a century.' 



Nobody will question the qualities ascribed to 

 Mr. Osborne, or grudge him either the honour 'or 

 the substantial recognition ; but the same qualities 

 are not so rare in other walks (or rides) of life, 

 whether of the postman, or of the groom, or of 

 another, wherein old age is equally encountered, 

 that one can avoid wondering whether the chief 

 actors in the interesting ceremony were or were 

 not aware of the reflection which their amiable 

 proceeding might be considered to cast upon the 

 body whereof the excellent recipient of their grace 



