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    THE DEKBY DAY AND THE TSTHMIAN GAMES.

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    iuries should decide by a majority . ; and he has on many occasions displayed his unfavourable opinion of juries in general . Grand juries too , are to be abolished , first in the City of London , and the next step , no doubt , will be to abolish them everywhere else This again , we tako to be a great mistake * The grand jury not only diminish the labour of the common juries , but they take out of their hands a large number of those very eases in which the latter would be likely to come to an erroneous derision . It is said that the grand jury is composed of the same materials as the petty jury but this is either a mistake or a misrepresentation . In the c 6 untry it is composed of the magistrates almost without mixture , and in the metropolis it has a large proportion of the higher and more educated element . On this account , we cannot but feel that

    the abolition of the grand jury would be a step fraught with evil to the interests of public justice . „ . ¦ It has long been a recognised right on the part of those who have property or character , or both , at stake in a civil action , to demand a special jury . This proceeding is attended with some expense but it is so often felt to be absolutely necessary for the due attainment of justice , that we have few important civil cases now tried by petty juries . But this advantage , so greatly valued and so extensively used in matters which concern money and reputation , is not to be had when life and liberty are at stake . If a merchant has an action in which he may lose a thousand pounds , lie

    lsjermitted to sav , " I do not choose that this shall be decided by a dozen men , probably ignorant , perhaps prejudiced , certainly not capable of understanding the scale on which my operations are transacted . I will have a jury of merchants . And he has them But if the result is to be , not the saving or the loss of _ a thousand pounds , but the character , liberty , or even the life of the accused , he has no such privilege ; he may challenge any juror of whom he lias reason to believe that he is a prejudiced person ; but tins is all , and practically the privilege is of little use , and is very rarely exer ^ cised . ¦ . ,.. „ v , - _ i . « . selected from

    Much benefit would , result if juries were habitually a hisrher class of men than that which now supplies them . Professional men are all exempt , from serving , and we would not do away with this exemption .: The nature of their avocations renders it unreasonable to , expect lawyers and doctors-toserve on juries , and we should be very sorry to see clergymen in such , a position . ; .-UtfT we do not see why gentlemen should not act . They are - the persons most fitted for the office- We should be unspeakably ^ disgusted if the judges of the land were chosen without due regard te-jfreir educational qualifications ; and a juror is a judge—a judge of facts , of evidence , of character . The judge on the bench tells him the , law , and afterwards apportions the sentence ; but it is . thejuroiwho decides on the important question * " Guilty or not guilty ; and we fear that unless men of a Higher grade are chosen tor an oflBce so weighty , iuries will fall more and more into contempt , and will assimilate

    such political jurists as Lord Campbell our proceedings to those of the Continent . We shall not now speak of the necessity which exists for a Court of Appeal , but shall merely indicate one step ' Which would obviate much of the mischief pointed x > ut in this article . Let there be a right in criminal cases , as well ^ s-in ^ ml ^ nes ^ o-dei nanA ^^ PJCu ^ iirvjjind letj threat with the indge to decide whether the casebe one ofsufncient lmpTn ^ awcertot justify the demand . The expense should in all cases be paid by the defence , and this would prevent any abuse of the privilege . If such an arrangement as this could be made , all parties would probably be satisfied , for no one contends , or ever has contended , that in commonplace trials a common jury is not quite sufficient . The more educated classes would feel themselves safer , and the cry against juries , which , however justifiable , is in a high degree unconstitutional , would soon cease to be heard .

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    to no particular class ; it pervades every grade and every section of society—from the highest personage in the realm down to the humblest . Here , on the dusty road , the emblazoned chariot of the peer is jostled by the chartered'bus of the shopman and the clerk , th tumble-down gig of the small tradesman-, and ' the donkey-truck ' © f the costermOnger . His Lordship , fresh from the solemn conclave of the Imperial council-table , is as much intent upon the pleasures of the day as Chummy the sweep , emancipated for the nonce from the black thrall of his soot-bag . My Lord lounges on wellstuffed cushions , and Chummy is bumped along on a couple of deal boards ; but Chutnmy ' s talk is my Lord's talk , and ray Lord ' s talk is Chummy ' s . It is all about Wizard , and Umpire and Thormanby , which are to win , one or other , and Mainstone and CapeFlyaway , which are not to win , one or other . And while my Lord bets " ponies , " Chummy lays his halfcrowns , and is quite as feverish about the resulb . Mainstone and Cape Flyaway ! These names remind us that the Premier and the ex-Premier are

    competitors for the Blue Ribbon of the Turf . Did not the illustrious Pam himself , forgetful of his Greek antiquities , give these races the name of the " Isthmian Games ? " And was it not Lord Debby who instituted the order of that Blue Ribbon of the Turf , which he has not yet been destined to wear , and which , Chummy will tell you confidentially , the Ring wont let him wear , for fear that he should sell off his stud and quit the turf ? Sell off his stud ! Did not Lord Debby sell off his stud long ago ? _ Did not Madame Getsi make her hist appearance years since , and is she not this very night upbraiding JPollio on the boards of the Royal Italian , as of old ? What Englishman who has had a passion for racing will ever consent to bid farewell to Epsom Downs , while he ha * health to bear the journey , money to pay the ^ charges , and a tooth left in . his head to masticate cold pigeon-pie withal ?

    But the Derby has its serious as well as its gay aspect . It is , unfortunately , too literally true in racing matters , that it is " money that makes the mare to go . " We question if races would be so frequent , if so much care would be taken and so much money expended in the breeding of horses , if it were not for the opportunity which they afford for winning , and , let us add , losing money . Some idea of the amount which ; has been involved in this Derby mav be gathered from the fact-that no less than 224 horses were entered foe ¦ . the race . Putting downHthe expense of the training of each horse at £ & 00 V which , we imagine , must be much under li e mark , the whole cost to the owners would be £ 44 , 800 . In addition to this , £ 25 . has to be paid for each h 6 rse which does not start , which in thiis instance , as only about 30 horses started ^ would give sonvething but

    like £ 4 , 000 . These are the legitimate expenses ; now comes the betting . Who shall say how many thousands , .-hundreds , of thousands—millions have been staked on this Derby ? Through our , the length and breadth of England , for months past , every club has been a little " Tattersall's , " every public-house a " Corner . " Nor is the speculation confined to England alone ; it is as rife in the sister kingdoms , and evenextends to our distant colonies , where those interested wait for months for the news . To the steady-going , nonprofessional sportsman , who takes au interest in races because he is an Englishman , and can ' t help it , and who ventures his shilling in a sweepstakes , or sports his half-crown with a friend to get up a little - ^ xpjtf > meiii-. about the event , to the convivial j ) liilosopher , who having an eyeto liquor and sociality bets his bottle , in ^ Ur ^ mHris pound of Havannahs ; to the privileged young lady in mauve silk , with smile which

    who lays gloves and doesn't mean to pay , save a is worth all M . Houbioant ' s shop—to these , it is a matter of small moment whether the" favourite" comes in first , or whether the goal is first reached by some outsider , whose name has scarcely ever been mentioned . But ¦ stand by the professional turfite , and watch him . He is a regular book-rnnlcer , one who lives by betting , as other men live by stockbroking , or thimble-ridging-, or skittle sharping ; or lie is a banker ' s clerk , who has embezzled the iunds and trusts to the race to put him " square ; " or he is simply a shopman , who has dipped his hand a little too deep in his master ' s till . Such as these have no eyes for the wonderful scene on the Downs : the vast musses of human beings piled against the sky ; the sea ot white faces , cresting the black fmrlaca like a fringe of foam ; the white tents , dotting the ridgoof the hill ; the picturesque encampments of the irinsv fortunetellers in the hollow below—not on these does the

    gaze of the betting-man rest , hut on the knot of horses crowded round the starting-post . His mind is full of their numbers and colours . As he sees them start and turn the corner , and sweep round the hill , and hears the thunder of their hoofs roll nearer and nearer on the resounding turf , ho forgets that he is standing thero a unit among ten thousand . The surrounding scene fades from his view ; he sees nothing but Unit knot of striving horses , hears nothing but the trump of hoofn which scarcely beats faster , or louder , than his own heart . And now ho picks out the particular horae upon whoso fl |) ced of foot his fortune , his life , perhaps , is cast . He is well forward in the front rank , and expectation boats hig h in the breast of that feverish gambler . Now tho groat strug-g-lo of tho last halfihkch

    mile begins , and the horso in f . iUuitf ., vo » m « . * runzy now possession of tho desperate man . Wedged in -thorn among tho crowd , ho is riding faster tlinn either jookoy or horse . In imagination he has the spur on his heel nnd tho whip in his hand . Ho shouts out tho colours of hiss favourite like ono demented , nnU as if his shouting would inspire tho beant with npoed and urge him on faster . His shouts are nt length mingled with curses , and when the coal is reached by some horno other than his , hi * curses dio away in impotent gasps . His hope has gone out hUo a flaming brand which i ? ouat suddenly into the Hen . What hhuk dwpair falls upon hundreds , nay , thousands , at that moment ! Jlcro , now , upon

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    May 26 , 1860 . j The Leader and Saturday Analyst . 493

    The Dekby Day And The Tsthmian Games.

    THE DEKBY DAY AND THE TSTHMIAN GAMES .

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    TH ERE is nothing which an Englishman talks about so long beforehand as the Derby Day . It is the grand High Festival of the nation—the great Oasis of Holiday in the wide Desert of the forking year—the day of solemn sacrifice to the Sacred Horse—the apogee of British carnival . The g-aose of Michaelmas , the turkey * nd plum-pudding- of Christmas , the pancakes of Shrovetide , lire ns nothing in the scale against that random hamper which is stowed . away in tho boot of the multiform vehicle which whirls us down tho rood to Epsom on that sucred Wednesday in M « y . As school boys , who , immediately they return to school from the holidays of Midfliurimer , begin to count tho days until the holidays of Christmas , so tho children of a large growth no sooner see the ghostly white figures start up on the black board over against tho Grand Stand , than they begin to think of the next Derby—of the starters , of tho probuble winners , and , if they are sporting : personages , which a considerable per-centage of them are , whether they shall be more or leas lucky Next time . This ono thought survives all others . The season passes away ; Purliatheii , t shuts up its doors ; wars for-an idea , or for something even loss , are waged ami finished ; old dynasr ties aro overthrown , nnd now ones rained on their ashes ; " the woods decay nnd fall , " as Mr . Tennyson has it—and through nil we aro thinking * of that next Derby Day , — -of tlvo four-in-hand that % yo shall ; go , down tho road in ; of tho white coat and white hat with a blue veil that wo shall wear , nnd astonish the - natives with ; and , above all , of that reckless luncheon , which derivon such a zest from o : tr having to invert our plates for a second course , and gut at our stout and champagne by knocking off the necks of the bottles ngainst the . carriage-wheeld . The interest taken in the Darby is confined

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), May 26, 1860, page 493, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2349/page/9/