THE RACE-HORSE. 571 



this gay and animating pursuit need be sought for, it is ap- 

 prehended, in no other principles of human nature than are 

 employed to explain the love of all those sports and occupa- 

 tions of the same kind which keep the mind in action. We 

 need no more inquire why a man acquires a love for the race- 

 course than for the chase, for travelling, or for active occu- 

 pation of any kind. The machinery of human thought, it 

 seems, must not he allowed to rust from inaction, and those 

 who would limit its movements in any single course, assur- 

 edly manifest an ignorance of human nature. What is term- 

 ed amusement can no more be excluded from the category of 

 human pursuits than the occupations of business, of philoso- 

 phy, or of all the graver objects which occupy the mind, and 

 which, as society advances, become more multiplied and va- 

 ried. One of the sternest of ancient moralists declares, that 

 the man who has no time to be idle is a slave ; but the 

 idleness of which he speaks is merely the diversion of 

 thought to another class of objects. Limiting our reflec- 

 tions to the condition of society which exists in this coun- 

 try, it were as foolish as vain to seek to restrict within 

 too narrow a sphere the pleasures of the people. If they 

 are rudely restrained within one channel, they may take 

 another less favourable to private happiness, to public mo- 

 rals, and to national -character. The horse-race has been a 

 pastime of the people of England for generations, has super- 

 seded many rude and cruel sports, and has attained a re- 

 finement in accordance with the spirit of a more cultivated 

 age ; and it may be questioned if there is any one pursuit in 

 the class of what are called public amusements, which, with 

 so little prejudice to the character of the people, is calculated 

 to produce so great a degree of interest and relaxation. It 

 will be said that the system is tainted with the spirit of 

 gambling and play. Would that it were less so ! but the 

 fact admitted does not invalidate the fair conclusions which 

 may be drawn. The love of gain cannot be truly said to be 

 the primary end of those who delight in this gay and ani- 



