The intruding light of the morning was execrated by
the nightly gamblers. 'Grant us but to perish in the light,' was
the prayer of the warlike Ajax:--'Grant us black night for ever,'
exclaimed the gambler; and his wishes were consistent with the
place and the foul deeds perpetrated therein.[79]
[79] The principal gambling-room at Newmarket was called the
'Little Hell.'
Sit mihi fas audita loqui--sit numine vestro,
Pandere res alta terra et caligine mersas.
The turf-events of every succeeding year verify the lament of the
late Lord Derby:--
'The secession from the turf of men who have station and
character, and the accession of men who have neither, are signs
visible to the dullest apprehension. The once national sport of
horse-racing is being degraded to a trade in which it is
difficult to perceive anything either sportive or national. The
old pretence about the improvement of the breed of horses has
become a delusion, too stale for jesting.'
Nothing is more incontestable than the fact that the breed of
English horses has not been really improved, certainly not by
racing and its requirements. It has been truly observed that
'what is called the turf is merely a name for the worst kind of
gambling.
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