The Sun.
London, England, 1857-05-28 00:00:00

EPSOM nAcEs.—WEDNESDAY.
THE DERBY DAY.
London's only Carnival, the Derby day, came off
yesterday on a grand scale of magnitude and sue-
cese. Everything was favourable, even the weather
was as brilliant as if no public holiday was meant,
and the wholeday will bear comparison with the
moat auspicious that ever assembled the metropolis
upon the Downs of Epsoni. FO7 one day, both by
right and . fashion, is • Londou privileged to take
leave of its Ben es and Abandon itself without re-
serve to the'dusty pleasures of the Irby. For 24
hours trade' and business are as things of. no ac-
count. The " odds" and turf " shaves" succeed inz
voices and bank accounts, and all4ive themselves.
up to the enjoyment of the great holiday with a
relish and excitement' that inspires the most blase
and rouses the most phlegmatic. It is very well
to say that it is our national taste foy horse-
rac ng which blackens the Downs on these occasions,
but we have our doubta'of the correctness of the
aiesertion. What would the race be without' the
road to it, the peeple, -the little pleasure patties,
and the ibot little-halipera ? Tha Derby day is, in
fact, the metropolitan plc nic. It is looked forward
to as such, and the dust, hurry, contusion, tepid'
champagne, and gritty fowls are so many necessary
adjuncts to the great _day out.. Take away ,any of
these accessories, and the Derby day would be as
tedious as a debate on MaYnOoth.
The roads yesterday were as the roads Can only
be on these occasions.
There 'Was, of course, no lack of equipages
.Of all
kinds-esplendid, moderate, decent, and used up,—
and the usual per tentage of animals that would not
,geewitle others-that- coffin* e, and lieveisibillaTrive
been tried at all. What a marvellous resurrection
of horseflesh always takes place on the Derby day.
Like the bony villains that can only be assembled
by a public execution, so also are the ricketty quad-
rupeds on the road to Epsom to be seen at no other
time or place. Where are, they kept till the great
day calls upon them to exhibt a feeble motion and
make believe as if they were going to run ? What
becomes of them all when the day is past ? Every
variety of these. unfortunate' quadrupeds was out
yesterday. Some had about as much chance of
reaching the Downs as Stonehenge, and human
credulity was exhibited in its most aggravated form
among the patties who sat behind such beasts, evi-
dently under the notion that they would take them
to Epsom. Other horses
_there were of a more de-
ceitful character, whose performances it was evi-
dent would terminate at the Downs and reduce
the youthful clerks in blue veils to the unpleasant
necessity of pasSiug the night in the carriage or
dragging it
,back to town themselves. But these
were by no means the worst among the various
specimens of horseflesh. There were many. gay"
animals: The.celebrated predicament of Mr. Briggs.
in a bathing-machine behind iejibbing horse, and
the tide coming in, was quite outdone by the vaga-
bond eccentricities of some animals, which, without
warning, backed full into the stream of vehicles
with awful havoc.. The steep ,bill leading up to the
course afforded peeeliar opportunities for such dis-
plays ; on arriving at this the general opinion
among the horses seemed to be that they had done
quite enough, ant. those that had been lively en
route " let out" as if they meant to kick the driver-
from his seat. Mach amusement was created here
by a panic which ensued among the occupants of a
first-class drag, who all, even to the driver, sprang
into the road on a. slight hostile demonstration of
one of their leaders. The consequences might have
been' serious but that a bystander, with much cou-
rage, clung to the head of the refractory brute,.
and, amid the dia of a thousand infallible remedies,
for a vicious hone, contented himself with the best
and simplest—that of holding him fast.
There were the usual number of breaks-down on
the road, some of which seemed quite inexplicable.
Carte that looked as if they could not be relied upon
to -go a mile jogged on securely with six or seven
inside and a small party on the shafts, while appa-
rently s .und vehicles came to grief with such astoe
nishing'facility as to lead to a general suspicion that
they must have been: manufactured at some Govern-
ment establishment. An -immense number of
visitors came down per rail-not less than between
16,000 and 17,000. The arrangements at the Lon
don-bridge stetian on this occasion were very goOd.
No stoppages took place Extra ticket clerks were
provided, and as fast as the people streamed in they
took their places in the wain, and were despatched
in 13,tches of 500 and 600 at a time. • As far as
could be judged by a brief visit to the station, there
was no cause of complaint, and we doubt if ever so
large a number of passengers were conveyed with
less trouble in as short a space, of time. After
passing Cheam the visitor by rail caught glimpses
of the road, marked by a dense ridge of dust of
such consistency that it seemed hard to believe
that it would ever disperse again, but remain ever-
more a permanent feature of the landscape. In
fact, each cortege,' high or low,' seemed attended by
a small simoome whict hung upon all its move-
ments with suffocating pertinacity, and coated fea-
tures and dresieS in.a way that made recognition
d.fficult in the extreme.. It-would be a nice cal-
culation if it were possible to ascertain the pre-
cise number of luncieons lost through friends
being thus disguised in gritty particles. From the
town .of Epsom the stroatn of foot passengers wal
incessant, pouring up towards the course in dense
black lines till they verged into the great sea
of human beings whisk seemed to fret and surge
in heavy masses between the stand and starting-
post.
Epsom. Racecourse on a Derby day, as our rea-
ders are aware is a pheromenon quite indescribable.
It is a medley—a worldon a small scale, such as the
Derby only exhibits; or only London could fur-
nish it. No other festieal in the world approaches
near to it. It is in fact a houseless London--Lon-
don with all its pomp, wealth, and squalor, wants,
vices, luxuries, gentlemen, knaves, and fools, at
once transported as if by magic to the open fields.
Like all great sights, it leaves a strong though in-
distinct impression on the mind; whimsical and
bizarre, like the aspect of the course itself, where
much is seen and little 7ecoltected. Who that saw
'a Derby once can ever forget it ; yet who that has
seen it,so times can tell more than that it is an im
mense assemblage, as undefinable as the ocean ?
Yesterday it differed little from its usual cosmo-
politan aspect. There were tents and booths of
. all kinds, .from the palatial canvass of Alger
down to the miserable tarpaulin shanties on twigs
from out of which the sallow daughters of Egypt
dispensed unheard-of wealth in sixpenny fortunes.
There were organ grinders, mcintehanks, dancers,
fiddlers, and beggars, performing monkeys, and
precocious children. Tender infants that could
scarcely stand upon their feet were made to stand
upon their heads in wooden platters, and urchins,
scarcely weaned, crept up long ladders carefully ad-
j tasted on the parental nose, which bore evident
tokens of having suff Ted somewhat in the unusual
duties it was called upon to fulfil. Sallow vagabonds
in much-used " fleshings" contorted themselves
after a manner that quite upset'all theories' as to
the use of the back-bone. Punches, girls on stilts,
ballad singers, negro melodists grinning *Om ear to
ear, card-sharpers, and the never-to-be-sufficiently
anathematised " korrekt cards" abounded as usual.
Pickpockets of course, mustered strong, and must
have reaped, a bounteous harvest, for until it was
time to deer the course but few policemen were to
be seen. In this part of the arrangement an altera-
tion is decidedly needed. The Grand Stand was
very full, and visitors continued to arrive up to the
very moment of the horses starting. As usual, there
were some 20 or 30 belated parties that missed the
whole affair, coming only in time to share the dust
and general panic and disappointment that ensued
on the winner's number going up at the post. The
first race generally commands as much attention as
the first piece of a boxing night. Yesterday there
was not even a misgiving as to the state of the turf
to give it interest, and all the varied noises of a
race-course continued with almost unabated vigour.
Not so, however, as the time for the event ap-
proached. The uproar gradually stilled down into a
busy hum, and silence deepened as excitement and
expectation. increased. Just before the first false
start a fixed, solemn attention reigned over the
whole multitude, that, compared with the former
restless uproar, seemed bodeful and impressive.
The excitement rose to an intense pitch, odds were
given and taken for or against almost anything.
Only in subdued exclamat ons or long-drawn
breaths was the disappointment of the false starts
acknowledged. Suddenly there was a hoarse mur
mur, gradually swelling into an uproar—a confused
dull trampling, and a rush like a whirlwind as the
horses .swept by—the colours mixed, changed, and
vanishing in the distance ; and ere you could col-
lect a thought or' hazard a guess the Derby was
run and won.
The result of the race was scarcely unexpected;
for Blink Bonny, the winner, had throughout the
winter been the leading favourite, and had only lost
her position in the betting by her defeat at New-
market for the One Thousand Guineas Stakes—
a 'defeat which is now inexplicable, and which,
perhaps, can only be attributed to the glorious