236 The Life of Fred Archer 
drama, his strictures on Transatlantic architecture, and his 
psychological study of Mrs. Lucilla Dudley of the Tombs 
Prison may be very ridiculous, it would be a mistake to imagine 
that the opinions of Mr. Archer and Captain BowHng are not 
of a great deal more value to some people than those of Mr. 
Bryce and Mr. Matthew Arnold. 
" Fame is purely local. There is no such thing as universal 
celebrity. When the ostler begged the Bishop to shake hands 
with the bruiser in the stable-yard (' he'll let yer '), the worthy 
man simply gave expression to the relative opinions regarding 
prelates and prize-fighters held in his circle. When Victor 
Hugo witnessed a marriage at a Mairie, the registrar nearly 
brought on an apoplectic fit by mildly asking the ' Maitre ' 
whether he spelt his name with or without a ' t.' 
" If the opinions of a jockey are laughed at by many of us, 
it is open to discussion whether, on many a racecourse, ' Fred's * 
ideas on democracy, art, insanity, and the New World at 
large may not be quoted with an appreciation which has 
never yet been accorded to those of De Tocqueville, or W^inslow, 
or Anthony Trollope. It is even possible that the interest in 
Mr. Archer and the fating he received may be the shadow of 
coming events. Has the craze for actors about attained its 
zenith? In Paris the circus-rider is displacing him, and in 
Madrid the greatest ambition of the Spanish 'Arry is to dress 
Hke a bull-fighter. In Germany the mediatised princes who 
used to make left-handed matches with opera-singers are now 
throwing their handkerchiefs at the sylphs of the flying 
trapeze. Is the jockey to be the next pet of English Society ? " 
The following telegram sent from St. James's, S.W., in 1885 
is in Mrs. Coleman's scrap-book : 
" Fred Archer, Esq., Weighing-room, Racecourse. 
" Can you come to a theatre to-morrow (Friday) ? 
"Montrose," 
