The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-09-26

IIorse-racing may be considered as little
less respectable than these-it has, we tnlnh,
rather worse name; and yet 1T is precisey
the snort in which the most money is rlskeu,
and the most horid respectability emb Arked'
Lords and princes patronize them IN Europe,
and stake thousands and thousands OF pOunas
upon them, while the public press OF botn
hemispheres record their triumphs and defeats
at greater length and with much more enthu-
siasm than is displayed in dealing with stocks
and merchandise. An insignificant lord or
duke mounts into hero, il not denigod, by
simply owning fast horse. The legs of
Fashion or Lightfoot or Piebad or Dexter con-
fer immortality even on ignoble blood, and
put the obscurest name into the throat OF
Fame's trumpet to be blown round the
world. But il the owner is made hero
how much more the horse We say of
gentleman who is second best in the house
that he is the husband of his wife. Napoleon
III used to be called the nephew of his uncle,
and in like manner those who are apOtheosized
by a horse are known as the "owner of Flying
Childers," or 'the man who entered Tippy
Bob, b" or 'the happy master OF the noble Dex-
ter;' so that the man, in a certain sense, be-
comes the tail of his horse, or, at best, his
squire, strutting in borrowed robes, while the
world hurras tor the quadruped. We know
it may be claimed, and with some show OF
reason, too, that the brute is for the mans
behoof but we may well invite the human
animal to ponder the oouplet- 49,
,"Behod. says the man, see all things for my pse'
See man for mine, replies the pampered goose
At all events however we may settle the
question of ownership, there can be no reason
able dispute about glory The mans name Is
tackled to that of the horse, not the horses to
his. The horse would sell, perhaps, for two
hundred thousand dollars; but who ever heard
of such price for a man In the old times
of the auction block for human chattels, prices
for first-rate hands were mparatively modest.
An old colored preacher, of New Orleans, de-
livering sermon to his brethren during the
war; on the subject of particular providence,
reminded them that the great Master had said
that two sparrows were sold for farthing, and
that not one of these should fall to the ground
without the Lords notice. "Now," said the
preacher, 'If de Lo'd takes care of little
sparrow, that's not worth half cent, don't
you think he'll take care of you thousand
dollar niggas ?" Behold the price of a man
And see how much better is a horse than his
master. The fable of the centaur is realized,
only that the horse instead of the man is the
upper part of the monster.
But one of the most wonderful forms Of
heroism is that aspired to by the prize-fghter
Only let a man have the needed mettl5 and
muscle, with the necessary training, and such
is the respect with which he inspires certain
numerous and influential class Of citizens, that
he may violate the law with impunity. When
he trains or fights, policemen put on their
leather goggles, and the newspapers have re-
porters on the ground, just as they would at
the concert of Blind Tom or even a session of
Congress. So popular and so perfectly con-
ceded are these contests, and so honored, that
when the victor returns with his laurels, in
the shape of split nose, closed "peeper'
or two, a couple of swollen lips, and his head
generally in a somewhat gelatinous condition,
he is awarded an ovation. Some double -fsted
orator delivers him personal panegyric, and
lays the wreath on his highly oInamented
head, Why, at this very moment the names
of these heroes are filling the newspapers;
their class stands up boldly in Congress; their
referees occupy places in the city government;
and crowds of admiring urchins read and dis
cuss their prowess at the street-corners and in
the saloons.
We have not space for the cock-fghters.
Their contests are only smaller, not lower in
the scale of morals. These are the heroes
now filling, to geat extent, the popular eye,
whose feats furnish the chosen reading of a
large class whose influence is eating into the
very heart of public morals, whose smart
capers are applauded, or whose brutality is
winl1ed at, whose supply, from the facility OF
manufacture, is ineXhaustible, and whose
mission is to carry us back to anarchy, and
render tyranny the only possible form of gov
! ernment.