Clementina .... best won. Could things have been better? To be sure, they had used the poor Farmer's Daughter scurvily. But your pictures require contrasts : well, the betting was in this wise THURSDAY. 2 to 1 agst. (tk.) 15 to 1 AT STARTING. 2 to 1 agst. (tk.) 5 to 1 8 to 1 10 to 1 Sir G. Hawley declared to win with Miami. When the strong field of fillies defiled from the paddock, and made rendezvous in the place appointed for the saddling, the anxiety to canvass their condition was very general. A more uneven lot of an age one seldom sces. For example : there was So-Nice, a great strapping mare, sixteen hands high, I dare say, with the frame of a five year old, and Marie Louise looking hardly up to "a feather." Having walked, and cantered, and performed the appointed parade, they repaired to the starting-post, where Mr. Hibburd was in attendance to perform the last offices-a duty he discharges with an adroitness and decision peculiar to his style of execution. Punctually at half past two he cast his flag to the earth, and away they flew at the signal. The OAKS STAKES of 50 sovs. each, h. ft., for three year old fillies, 8st. 7lb. each; the second to receive 100 sovs., and the winner to pay 100 sovs. towards expenses; last mile and a half ; 152 subs. Sir J. Hawley's Miami, by Venison.. Mr. Payne's b. Clementina, by Venison.. Capt. Harcourt's b. Ellerdale, by Lanercost Lord Exeter's b. Cosachia, by Hetman Platoff.. Sir C. Monck's b. by Touchstone, out of Caststeel.. Mr. Crockford's b. Kite, by Buzzard ... .Templeman 1 W. Abdale 4 ......J. Sharp 0 Lord Chesterfield's ch. Lady Lurewell, by Hornsea ...... Whitehouse 0 .... Sir G. Heathcote's b. by Astracan, out of Nannette. .Crouch 0 Bartholomew 0 ...P. Price 0 . Bradley 0 W. Boyce 0 .Cartwright 0 ..H. Bell 0 . Chapple 0 R. Sly 0 Wakefield 0 ....C. Daley 0 .....Marlow o .... Mr. Robertson's ch. Noiseless, by Redshank... The first to show in front was Miami, with Lord Exeter's mare next her, Clementina, Slander, and some three or four others forming the front rank, and so they ran up the hill. Here a long trail was already stuck out, and unfolded a tale of another description. Cosachia had by this time run by Miami, and with Ellerdale made the pace very excellent, and the appearance of affairs in the rear rank still less symmetrical. As they descended the hill, however, and turned Tattenham Corner, the winner of the July Stakes was again in front, with Clemen. tina "coming," though still about fourth. At the distance the favourite made her effort, but could never reach Miami, and finally ran past the chair beaten by a length. Luncheon was now the order of the company, during which the Derby and Oaks Stakes were contested for in four heats. After this-or rather these-came the Members' Plate in four other heats-and a row. Miles's Boy, having won the first heat, was drawn in the third; the second heat was won by Glory, second for the third-and then drawn. At this somebody who had lost said he would'nt pay, and there was a shindy; and for the fourth heat the winner walked over, without the knowledge of starter or judge! In the twilight of these irregularities, and as the evening was drawing near to nine, closed Epsom Races for 1847-last of the old Derby course.................. May its successors be rife in sport and fair play, and the gracious reader there to see-in sæcula sæculorum ! THE STAGE OF LIFE; INSIDERS AND OUTSIDERS; TRAVELLERS AND ON THE ROAD. BY CHARLES M. WESTMACOTT. "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely" passengers. CHARACTERISTIC, ANECDOTAL, AND HUMOROUS. CHAPTER VII.-A COLLEGE SPREAD. The Days of Dr. Cyril Jackson-Ch. Ch. in the Olden Time-Smuggled DinnersThe Dean's Detection-Toasting the Intruder-The Malignant Tuft-True Value of Genealogy-The Changeling Earl-A Story of Real Life. In the days of Dr. Cyril Jackson, ex-tutor to the Prince of Wales, Dean and Principal of Christchurch College, the number of students representatives of noble and wealthy families were unusually large; and as their appointments and allowances were in accordance with their station and expectancies, it gave the Doctor no inconsiderable trouble to suppress certain irregularities of living and profligacies of conduct, which, although neither unusual nor debasing in gay young men of liberal means, were, nevertheless, very unsuitable and dangerous to the rigid scholastic discipline of the domini. To effect a reformation of loose habits and manners, private dinners or suppers in students' rooms were specially interdicted; and any Oxford tradesman supplying the same was liable to be discommoned and proscribed by the Vice-Chancellor. The rooms occupied by Algernon Sydney were very conveniently situated for evading the Doctor's edict, being on the first landing of the left-hand staircase in Tom Quadrangle, on entering from the street. The unsuspicious good nature of the old Cerberus at the gate could always be propitiated by an elixir which rendered him stone-blind for the nonce, and unconscious of the ingress or egress of hot viands, particularly when they came concealed, as in the instance of Algernon Sydney's dinner, in the large square case of an old-fashioned pianoforte, borne on the shoulders of a couple of waiters dressed as porters, with another attendant bearing a very ingenious extending frame, upon which the case could be placed, and on the flaps being let down, presenting a complete table, with the cloth laid, and the dishes set out in good order; the wines and the ordinary appointments of the table having been previously smuggled in by less bulky degrees. The party of six being duly seated, the board smoking with a haunch of venison at one end, and a couple of fat capons at the other, a centre of hare soup, and two side dishes composed of côtelettes and lamb's fry; the Scout was directed to close the oak and remain on the watch to prevent surprise; while the waiters having discarded their porters' jackets, commenced drawing the long corks. One glass of sherry and two of hock had gone round, the beer tumblers were just filled with the ripe juice of the Champagne grape, when the scout, old Mark Supple, rushed in with the alarming news that the Dean and Beadles were knocking at the oak. "How do you know it is the Dean ?" inquired Sydney. "Gunned him, Sir, through Dun's hole in the oak. Know his knock, d'ye see, Sir. We are all trapped, Sir. You will be rusticated, and I shall be discommoned." "Unclose the oak, Mark, and let him come in ;" a command that the scout obeyed with great trepidation, taking care to conceal himself behind the door as the Dean entered. "Gentlemen," said the Dean, in a low sonorous voice and stately manner, intending a very serious reprimand; but before he could articulate another word, the party were all standing; and upon a hint from Algernon Sydney, glass in hand. "The health of the very reverend the Dean, gentlemen," said Sydney, "the honour of whose company, though unexpected, must always be hailed by his students with respect and delight (with three cheers);" and the room resounded with a Kentish fire. The novelty and boldness of his reception had astonished the Dean, and completely unhinged his accustomed solemnity of manner. The severity of his countenance relaxed, and assuming a faint smile, accompanied by a significant shake of his wig, he proceeded, in a very mild strain, to lecture the young gentlemen on the impropriety of their conduct, and the folly of such extravagance; good humouredly concluding his remarks by "excusing them for this offence, and advising them, whenever they intended to deceive the Dean, to take care that their hot viands did not ascend in smoking clouds through the cracks of their piano case, and their venison smell strong enough to scent the furthest corner of Tom Quadrangle ;" and then expressing a hope that the offence would never occur again, he withdrew. "No "Bravo! bravo! bravissimo!" shouted the whole party. thing like a bold front and a bland speech to get a man out of a scrape," said Sparkle. "The old Dean is a keen sportsman," said Sydney; "I should like to go out deer-stalking with him, he has got such a fine nose and a sharp scent for a haunch of venison. But come, old fellows, bumpers round. "Now, lads, a round bevy to begin with: Wood.'" "Fill every glass; For wine inspires us, And fires us With courage, love, and joy." of beauties," said Sydney. "I'll give you a Here's the black-eyed daughters of Bagley "Again, boys-fill again," said a young gentleman who was honoured with the sobriquet of Pogey: "Here's the blue-eyed barmaid of the Bishop's cap" (the Mitre). "No poaching, Pogey," replied the Hon. Mr. Primrose; "you know I resigned Patty Tart, the pastrycook's daughter, conditionally." "Tarts and cheesecakes!" ejaculated Lord Avonshire; "there will be no sweetmeats left in Oxford for the rest of us to taste, if you guard your preserves so closely." "Mr. Sparkle," continued the Earl, "I hope we may drink the Oxford belle par excellence, without offence to you or your noble brother." 66 "Family quarrels are out of place at festive parties," retorted Sparkle; and sneering is like snapdragon, very likely to blister the tongue." "Gads life," said the peer, "we must speak by the card I find. Your knight-errant cannot object to toast his lady-love. Sydney, I propose-A glass for a lass that you cannot surpass: the health of Mary Jessop, the rose of Rhedycina.' "The rose of Rhedy cina," reiterated Sydney, "and her noble rescuer." When the toast had gone round, the Earl of Avonshire, who was evidently bent on mischief, resumed his allusions to the lady and the recent circumstances of her rescue by Sparkle and his servant. Lord Avonshire was one of those illnatured spirits who, under pretence of being witty, perpetrated snarling sarcasm, and without being pointedly insulting, contrived to be cowardly offensive. He was the intimate friend of Tom's brother, the discomfited Earl of Dashington, and was suspected of a desire to provoke a quarrel with Sparkle, to revenge his friend's disgrace. "By my sire," said Lord Avonshire, "I would post obit my inheritance, renounce the strawberry leaves, and dare the terrors of expulsion, for the glorious chance that you had, of carrying off the beautiful Mary the other night, Sparkle." "And she had been a Dubani or a Pompadour, a Nell Gwynn, or a Duke's mistress, I might have done so," said Sparkle, emphasizing the mistress; "but I have yet to learn that abduction is either noble or generous, or that forcible possession gives feasible right." "My dear Sparkle, 'pon honour, you are as ticklish in your ethics E E as if you were intended for the surplice, and as severe on me as if I had the prefix of Fitz to my cognomen.' Hitherto Fitzgeorge had been unusually silent and abstracted, so much so that he had been repeatedly rallied on his infirmity of disposition by his friend Sydney. The mention of Mary Jessop's name, the subsequent toast, and allusions of the Earl of Avonshire, had, however, roused him from his stupor. And when we remember the sincere friendship which existed between him and the Honourable Thomas Sparkle, it was not surprising that he should feel interested in the conversation between him and the Earl. When the latter, therefore, concluded his taunting speech with a contemptuous slur at the prefix of Fitz, he could no longer remain a quiet spectator of the Earl's wanton and unprovoked insult, which could not attach to any one present but himself. Rising with great firmness of purpose, but not without suppressed emotion, Fitzgeorge addressed himself to those present: "If I am not an intruder here, and by five out of the six present I feel assured that I am not so considered, I demand to know why Lord Avonshire should single me out for his venomous sarcasm." The Earl's countenance became livid, and his lips quivered with the whiteness of a coward's rage. He knew he might bandy words with Sparkle, whose inherent nobleness and natural good humour it was not easy to disturb; but to insult Fitzgeorge was to provoke the ire of the whole party, and rouse the lion of their adoration. While he was considering how he should avoid his impending danger, the amiable Sydney interposed. "Lord Avonshire's unfortunate expression," he said, was suicidal: it touched himself and his ancestry equally with his esteemed friend Fitzgeorge, and left scarcely one of the six present unscathed. I am," he continued, "nearly related to the Grafton Fitzroys-there is Sparkle closely allied to the Fitzgeralds- Pogey claims kindred with the Fitzhardinges-Primrose is a Fitzherbert-Avonshire is descended from a Fitzstuart-and our worthy friend FITZ from the original stock of all, the Fitzadams." "Gad renounce me, if I had not quite forgotten his presence," stammered out the Earl. "The gentleman"-and he spoke it contemptuously "is very thin-skinned, methinks, to take offence when none was intended." "It was intended," said Fitzgeorge, "and your present mode of evasion is adding insult to injury. Let me advise you to use more caution for the future, or you may bring more solid disgrace upon yourself than you can sneeringly attach to others." "Leave him to me, Fitz," whispered Sparkle, "you are too warm for his leaden head and marble heart." Then cooly looking Avonshire in the face, he said, "There is only one expressive monosyllable in the English language that is suited to stigmatise the base and dishonourable. I request you to consider that I have applied that epithet to you." There was a dead silence in the room. Every one felt the justice of Sparkle's severity; although all but Sparkle were alarmed for the consequences that might follow. The Earl bit his lips and knit his brows, then losing all self |