THE WASTING OF JOCKEYS 67 



are in your profession, Sir James, I am in mine," and pro- 

 ceeded to tell him what that profession was. The famous 

 surgeon was at once greatly interested, and asked him 

 many questions; among others, what would be his loss 

 supposing he should be unable to fulfil the Derby engage- 

 ment. To which Archer replied, " About ^2000." His 

 average income he stated to be about i^Sooo ; upon which 

 Sir James is said to have remarked : " You may well say 

 that what I am in my profession you are in yours. I only 

 wish that my profession were half as profitable as yours." 

 But that was modesty on Sir James's part, for his income 

 at this period must have been not far short of double that 

 sum. 



Archer was far more liberal and kind-hearted than most 

 people gave him credit for being. In proof of which we 

 give the following anecdote : — 



An old widow, in very poor circumstances, wrote to 

 Archer a short time before his death, and asked him to put 

 five shillings upon some horse for her, saying that she had 

 an old crown piece given to her by her mother, and she 

 wished to make some money with it. She added that she 

 could not afford to lose, and wished Mr Archer to place it 

 on a horse that would be sure to win. Archer was kind 

 enough to answer the epistle, and, what was better, gave 

 the old dame a piece of excellent advice. He advised her 

 to keep her crown piece, and not to dabble in horse-racing. 

 Besides this, he enclosed in his letter a sovereign, as a 

 solatium for the unpalatable advice he was forced to give 

 her. Archer, I happen to know from private sources, was 

 always ready with his money when distress in any shape 

 tugged at his coat-skirts, and this was only one of many 

 generous acts on his part. 



His father, as a steeplechase jockey, was only second to 

 Tom Olliver ; and Fred scored his first win on Maid of the 

 Mist, belonging to Mrs Willing, in some Welsh pony 

 steeplechases. He could have taken champion rank as 

 the smallest-boned man in creation for his inches; and 

 from his boyhood he was extremely delicate. It was on 

 this account, and also because he thought him a lad of 

 promise, that Matthew Dawson took a great fancy to him. 



