ress? Hum! Two
flannel waistcoats, a thick cloth coat, a Bath surtout! It is a vast
weight to carry this warm weather. I only hope you won't sink under it.'

'Never fear, sir, I do not doubt but I shall do very well.'

The rewards of victory were as plain and simple in the Grecian games as
they were distinguishing and honourable. A garland of palm, or laurel,
or parsley, or pine leaves, served to adorn the brow of the fortunate
victor, whilst his name stood a chance of being transmitted to posterity
in the strains of some lofty Pindar. The rewards of modern days are
indeed more substantial and solid, being paid in weighty gold or its
equivalent, no matter whether obtained by the ruin of others, while the
fleet coursers and their exulting proprietors stand conspicuous in
the list of the Racing Calendar. The ingenious and ironical author of
'Newmarket, or an Essay on the Turf,' in the year 1771, bestowed
the following titles and honours on the most famous horse of the
day--Kelly's Eclipse:--'Duke of Newmarket, Marquis of Barnet, Earl of
Epsom and York, Viscount Canterbury, Baron Eclipse of Mellay; Lord of
Lewes, Salisbury, Ipswich, and Northampton; Comptroller-General of
the race-grounds, and Premier Racer of All England.' To bear coat of
arms--'A Pegasus argent on a field verd;--the supporters--two Englishmen
in ermined robes and ducal coronets;--the crest--a purse, Or;--the
motto--"Volat ocior Euro." '(75)

(75) 'He flies swifter than the east wind.'

Again, in the exhibition of those useful and honourable Olympic pastimes
of old, the cause of morality was not overlooked:--there was in them
a happy union of utility, pleasure, and virtue. A spotless life and
unblameable manners, a purity of descent by being born in wedlock
through several generations, and a series of creditable relations, were
indispensable qualifications of a candidate on the Olympic turf. It
is true, there is at least as much attention paid to purity and
faultlessness on the plains of Newmarket; but the application is to the
blood and pedigree of the horse, not of his rider.

Nay, it was, and is, notorious that the word 'jockey' has acquired the
meaning of 'to trick,' 'to cheat,' as appears in all our dictionaries
and in common parlance. What is the inference from this but that
the winning of races is no absolute proof of the superiority of the
horse--for whose improvement racing is said to be encouraged; but rather
the result of a secret combin