T1IE RACE-HORSE. 553 



of birth and fortune, esteemed by his private friends ; but he 

 had the misfortune to be regarded by the world as the great- 

 est rogue of his age. One act of his is recorded, so full of 

 meanness, avarice, and cruelty, as to be incredible. We will 

 not repeat it, because we say that the evidence which has 

 been produced in support of it is not worth a straw ; because 

 the victim of the tale has lain a hundred years and more in 

 his grave without a tongue to defend him ; and because, ac- 

 cordingly, every man who values for himself a good name 

 after death is bound to pronounce a verdict of "not guilty" 

 in favour of the unhappy Frampton. 



The means of judging of the success of rival horses on the 

 turf unfortunately do not depend upon events which may be 

 the subject of reasonable calculation, but on mere contingen- 

 cies. A horse may be run to lose as well as to win, and 

 other circumstances may affect the result, having as little 

 relation to the powers and merits of the horses as events in 

 the moon. But, before speaking of these things, it will be 

 well to turn for a moment to the classes of persons who are 

 engaged in this stupendous system of amusement and play. 



The humblest class connected with the business of the 

 turf consists of the Boys of the Stables, to each of whom is 

 assigned the care of one horse, with the duty of riding it at 

 exercise : of these poor youths the number is very great. 

 They enter on their hard duties at a period of life so early, 

 that the stable becomes to them a little world, which bounds 

 their thoughts, and influences all their habits. One of their 

 number has given us a whole book, under a title eminently 

 characteristic of the stable, " Genius Genuine." Another, 

 however, has really lived to distinguish himself as a man of 

 letters, and has given us the singular story of a Stable-boy's 

 Life. This is Holcroft, known in his age as a dramatic writer 

 and novelist of no mean note. 



The boys, he tells us, rise at half-past two in summer, and 

 at between four and five in the depth of winter. When they 

 begin to awaken one another for their morning task, the 



