310 Life and Times of " The Druid." 



It must never be forgotten that in " The 

 Druid " we have a writer of great culture, of 

 wide and varied information, and with the 

 instinct of a poet, who took for his motto, 

 " Juvat integros accedere fontes." No racing 

 stable of note, no famous paddocks existed 

 in England to which, at the cost of infinite 

 labour and much exposure to hardship, he 

 did not pay a personal visit, and upon his 

 death the name of "The Old Mortality of 

 the Turf" was justly bestowed upon him by 

 an appreciative friend. Slightly altering the 

 words originally applied to the learned Anti- 

 quary who wrote " Camden's Britannia," it 

 might be said with truth of " The Druid," 

 that "he is the common sun, whereat modern 

 sporting writers have all lighted their little 

 torches." His influence upon the class of 

 literature to which he devoted his singular 

 powers has, indeed, been exceptional. That 

 he made occasional mistakes is tantamount to 

 confessing that he was no more than human ; 

 but, considering the breadth and length of 

 the canvas that he filled, his errors sink 

 altogether out of sight. It may, perhaps, 

 be remarked of his works that they present a 



