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"Lorn lyre that ne'er hath spoken
Since the sad day its master chord was broken."

THE DERBY.

Is there a finer sight in creation than a horse? I don't speak of the
wild horse of the prairie, as seen at Astley's--nor of the wearied animal
by means of which the enterprising greengrocer transports his wares from
Covent-Garden to the Edgware-road--nor of the useful but commonplace
looking cob on which Jones trusts himself timidly as he ventures on a
constitutional ride, while his groom, much better mounted, follows
scornfully behind--nor of the broken-down, broken-knee'd, spavined, blind
roarer, all the summer of whose life has been passed in dreary drudgery,
and for whom nought remains but the knacker's yard, and the cold
calculations of the itinerant vendors of cat's-meat; but of a horse such
as a monarch might pet, and the very queen of beauty might deign to
ride--a horse such as Gamarra.

"A noble steed,
Strong, black, and of the desert breed,
Full of fire and full of bone,
All his line of fathers known,
Fine his nose, his nostrils thin,
But blown abroad by the pride within."

And who that has ever laid his leg across such, and bounded along the
turf, does not feel that the bare memory of it is a joy for ever,
thrilling almost as Love's young dream? Such was our good fortune once;
now we creep into town on the top of a 'bus, and our hair is grey, and
our pluck is gone, and our heart no larger than a pin's head.

To write about London, and to omit all mention of the Derby, were
unpardonable. At the Royal Academy Exhibition this year, the rush to see
Mr. Frith's picture of the Derby was so great that a policeman was
required to keep off the crowd. Horse-racing is the natural result of
horse-riding. It is essentially the English sport. Taking Wetherby's
Calendar as our guide, we may calculate that in 1855 there were 144
meetings in Great Britain and Ireland, which were attended by 1606
horses, of whom only 680 were winners, fed by 60,000 pounds of added
money inclusive of the value of cups and whips, and diffusing 198,000
pounds in added money and stakes more or less. If there were no light
weights to ride, and no noblemen or wealthy commoners to run their
horses, the horses would run of their own accord. There are horses, as
there are men, who never will play second fiddle if they can possibly
avoid it; and if horses run, men will look and admire,