ng.

The gentry portion of the throng, with some few exceptions, it was said,
wore a dissipated look, and had that peculiar appearance of incipient
disease, that indicates a life of late hours, of excitement, and
bodily exhaustion. Lower down in the scale of life, I was informed,
intemperance had left its indelible marks. And that still further down,
were to be found the worthless lees of this foul and polluted stream of
sporting gentlemen, spendthrifts, gamblers, bankrupts, sots, sharpers
and jockeys.

This was by no means the case. It was just what a man might have
expected to have found a great sporting exchange and auction mart, of
horses and carriages, to have been, in a great city like London, had he
been merely told that such was the object of the place, and then left
to imagine the scene. It was, as I have before said, a mixed and motley
crowd; and must necessarily be so, where agents attend to bid for their
principals, where servants are in waiting upon their masters, and above
all, where the ingress is open to every one.

It is, however, unquestionably the resort of gentlemen. In a great and
rich country like this, there must, unavoidably, be a Tattersall's; and
the wonder is, not that it is not better, but that it is not infinitely
worse. Lake all striking pictures, it had strong lights and shades.
Those who have suffered, are apt to retaliate; and a man who has been
duped, too often thinks he has a right to make reprisals. Tattersall's,
therefore, is not without its privateers. Many persons of rank and
character patronize sporting, from a patriotic but mistaken notion,
that it is to the turf alone the excellence of the English horse is
attributable.

One person of this description, whom I saw there for a short time, I had
the pleasure of knowing before; and from him I learned many interesting
anecdotes of individuals whom he pointed out as having been once well
known about town, but whose attachment to gambling had effected their
ruin. Personal stories of this kind are, however, not within the scope
of this work.

As soon as we entered, Mr. Slick called my attention to the carriages
which were exhibited for sale, to their elegant shape and "beautiful
fixins," as he termed it; but ridiculed, in no measured terms, their
enormous weight. "It is no wonder," said he, "they have to get fresh
hosses here every ten miles, and travellin' costs so much, when the
carriage alone is enough to kill beasts. What woul