has become a lucrative one, if conducted with ability on the part of the middleman or tout. It is no uncommon practice for interested individuals to employ private touts; and at a recent trial at law it transpired that even owners of horses, of high reputation, deem it not below their dignity to acquire some inkling of what is going on in rival establishments, and, to this end, send down their spy to any locality possessing unusual interest. Twenty years ago it would have been deemed the height of audacity for any journal to have actually published the Training Intelligence' which now forms so important an item in the columns of the majority of sporting prints. Owners of horses at first naturally resented so glaring an innovation, and what they deemed an undue interference with their rights; but, after all, if some few good things have occasionally been spoiled, so have also the operations of those who found milk walks' so easy and profitable a branch of racing business.

In the perpetual warfare constantly being waged between those desirous of obtaining information relative to the animals of other people and those anxious to conceal their movements, for strategical purposes, there has always been adopted a summary method of avenging the raids of touts upon forbidden territory. Though not liable, like spies, to be strung up to the nearest tree as a warning to others, they have always been considered fair game among trainers, and stand but a poor chance of exciting popular commiseration, should their misdeeds be met by an appeal to lynch law. Tass Parker and his ferocious dog, of gigantic breed, were a terror at one time among the touts near Russley; though it may be doubted whether the attributes of that eminent retired pugilist and his bloodthirsty Cerberus have not been vastly exaggerated by the proscribed race against whose devices they were supposed to be specially kept. A nobleman recently connected with a noted South country stable, by a clever manœuvre, secured the persons of some of the aggressors on the eve of a Derby trial, and had them conveyed some miles away to the security of a public, where they were well supplied with liquor at his lordship's expense; and though it was reported that the injured innocents were for taking action in the matter, nothing came of it; though it is hardly likely the attempt will be repeated again. The celebrated Bray v. Jennings case was the only one we can recollect furnishing food for lawyers, when the trainer was rather heavily mulcted for taking the law into his own hands, and toutdom was for the time triumphant. But among the numerous instances adduced of the maltreatment of professional horse-watchers,' it generally turns out that, in the majority of cases, no force beyond that of language is used; and it must be admitted on all hands that a trainer has just and fair cause of complaint against such persons hanging about his establishment, corrupting his employés, and pumping stable boys and hangers-on, out of stable hours. While touts confine their attention merely to the work done by horses, no great harm can result either to owner or the public, and the general thirst for every kind of horsey information is harmlessly aliayed.

In some localities all precautions against touting are hopeless, while there are others whose surroundings admit of no strange eye prying in upon the doings therein. Any one standing upon the roadway by Langton Wold can report pretty accurately upon the morning's doings without trespassing upon the classic training ground of the North. Newmarket is only puzzling by reason of the vast number of horses training there, which requires a whole squad of watchers to chronicle their movements. The Berkshire and Wiltshire downs are, for the most part, eminently favourable for touting, and trainers have to be exceedingly smart in putting the double on the gentlemen with telescopes, when a trial is coming off before any great event. Danebury, which in the days of the Hastings and Beaufort hoops attracted a whole regiment of Paul Prys, is hardly so well preserved from inspection as 'brother William's ' retreat at Woodyeates, into whose peaceful shades no strange foot can enter except by special permission of their mysterious occupier. Epsom has hardly been worth touting of late years, when plating has been the apparent aim of its numerous coterie of trainers; while for Derby and Cup horses, it has proved a very Samaria among training grounds. Middleham Moor and the Richmond district are assiduously watched, though Tom Dawson is as 'cute as ever in putting his attentive visitors off the scent; while the Aske and Belleisle stables occasionally give the public the benefit of their trials; and Plaudit's putting through the mill' was quite a matter of asking the question after Lord Glasgow's style. Anybody can see what Drewitt is doing at Lewes ; while Findon and Littleton have sunk so low in racing estimation as to afford but little occupation for shabby coves in billycock hats,' now that the days of green and white braid have passed away, and almost the memory of the celebrated Tibthorpe expedition to Hayling Island. Stanton had at one time a reputation for inaccessibility, but that has long since become a thing of the past, though the remoteness of the place-quite out of the general sphere of training operations-doubtless contributed somewhat to the air of mystery supposed to surround it. So that the gallops of the cracks' can, in most cases, be regularly watched and their daily doings truthfully chronicled.

There are, of course, touts and touts. But, for the sake of discussion, the class may be divided into three; and we propose introducing in their proper order, first, the tout amateur or dilettante; secondly, the legitimate tout or professional horse-watcher; and, lastly, the tout illegitimate or spurious, from whom the type introduced into sporting novels, and the idea generally adopted by the public mind, is mostly drawn. There are, doubtless, other degrees, but not possessed of sufficiently broad distinctions to warrant a separate description. The amateur tout, pure and simple, is somewhat of the black swan description, and not so commonly to be met with as his fellow workmen in the lower phases of Turf life. He is mostly one of those beings who have come through a chequered career by the very skin of their teeth, and whose surroundings are not sufficiently shady

to cause them to be cut by the upper crust of society, nor, on the other hand, of such a nature as to qualify them for the blackleg coterie below. They are like trees, living in two elements, and stretching their branches upwards into the purer atmosphere of select sporting circles, while with their roots they may be said to strike downwards to the Tartarus of fallen spirits, though not sufficiently low to injure the vitality of their upper branches. Of such a state of being the advantages are two-fold, as affording them the opportunity of retaining the favour of the select few by reason of their knowledge acquired in other spheres, and securing the allegiance of the lower stratum of society because of their seeming condescension. Most of this species of touts are needy men, living absolutely by their wits, but ready to benefit-for a consideration-those who enjoy their confidence. They have committed no gross breach of trust, may not be absolutely defaulters, and shall not have been deemed worthy of actual ostracism from society; but it is felt that they are rather tolerated for their usefulness than courted for their popularity. Many, in spite of original inaptitude for the business, and by dint of their keen pursuit of the main chance, have qualified themselves so as to become excellent judges of horses and racing, and their candid opinion, when frankly expressed, worthy of the utmost consideration among the select circle they find it worth while to conciliate. Such experience cannot, of course, be gleaned, except through an intimate acquaintance with the lower orders of being who inherit that doubtful border-land between cleverness and chicanery, nor without having recourse to various schemes and subterfuges by which the rapacity of the class may be satisfied, and a solid slice of pudding still left for the enjoyment of those lions of society who look to their jackals for something withal to benefit themselves. Moreover, between these two classes, the amateur tout has, in racing parlance, also to 'get his bit,' of which he is occasionally disappointed, receiving no acknowledgment of his services from his patron, while his hungry client claims compensation before he opens his mouth. They would feel highly indignant at being called touts, but to all intents and purposes they are not one whit better than the class for which they affect to entertain an unbounded contempt. Neatly, and occasionally fashionably dressed, they move about with a sort of feeling of superiority to the classes they instruct, and as if feeling that they were indispensable appendages to the society they mostly affect. Their acquaintance with all professing any branch of the racing or training business is widely spread, and principals as well as employers often find it worth their while to be upon good terms with such very knowing customers. They are honest, because it is their interest to be so, in executing any commissions with which they may be entrusted, for they cannot afford to make one false step, with the fierce light' beating upon them from all quarters, and no small amount of tact and ability is required in balancing jointly the claims of all parties, for they cannot afford to sacrifice one for another, or their little game would be gone for ever. Men of the stamp we have described may

not heretofore have been recognised as belonging to the illustrious band of touts, but in nowise do they differ from their humble brethren of the craft save in the actual drudgery of watching gallops and trials. Such an existence, while it cannot be called dishonourable, is certainly none of the highest according to our notions even of racing morality, nor is it likely that the profession of middleman will gain much in public estimation through its connection with the Turf. The legitimate tout, or professional horse-watcher, is a bird of totally different plumage. He rejoices in no fine feathers, for his calling does not admit of any superfluous ornamentation. Originally perhaps a decayed petty trainer, or stable-lad out of employ on account of increasing weight, he brings a certain amount of knowledge, acquired by experience, to bear upon his new calling; knows something of condition; can tell a lame un in the plating line from the Derby crack of the stable, and has some idea of pace in gallops, and the sufficiency or otherwise of preparations. He should possess the qualifications of patience and activity; learn to confine himself strictly to observation, without any attempt to corrupt boys, or taking unfair means of attaining to information-in short, have sufficient honesty to withstand the many temptations he is certain to encounter if an adept at his business, in the shape of counter-propositions from the enemy, inducing him to conceal facts or mislead by false reports. He should be ever on the watch against all manner of snares certain to be laid for him, and sufficiently wide-awake to master the many plants made and devices concocted for putting him off the scent on important occasions. In the early spring morning, ere the faintest signs of day have appeared in the East, as the hare slinks back to her form, and in the dead silence of the dark hour before the dawn, he steals by circuitous ways to the point whence he may observe all movements of the string for the due chronicling of which he is accountable. Shape and action must be his guide in distinguishing the various animals in the sheeted squadrons, for the paint-pot has been brought into requisition before now, and for weeks, it is said, were the watchers about a great stable deceived by the substitution of a near relative for the crack filly of the stable, who was all the time eating the corn of idleness in her box in the hollow far away. As the day of trial draws near, the blessing of sleep must be curtailed, or taken in the early evening hours-nor can he even then be sure of success, for does not 'The Druid' tell us of Teddington's moonlight trial, and how John Scott knew by the sound of his feet that Attila had answered the question satisfactorily, while as yet it was too dark to distinguish one horse from another on Langton Wold? Then trials are got up specially to deceive the fraternity, and while the latter are hurrying off to crowd the telegraph-office of some small station, or invade the sanctum of the village post-mistress, the real Simons are brought out and put through their facings,' without fear of observance by the lynx-eyed watchers. Our tout possesses not in general the pen of a ready writer, and the originality of some of those communications so frequently placed before us would amuse

the unsophisticated, who believe in their being facsimiles of the tout's missive to head-quarters. It must have been a matter of constant observation, too, to note how pertinaciously each tout adheres to the chance of the animal trained in his own district; and this appears to be the weak point, viz., to attach one individual to a particular locality, who can have no chance of comparing the work done by other animals with that of those under his surveillance. Such a watcher's attention is better confined to the bare record of work gone through day by day, than to any discussion of chances which can only be really ascertained when the competitor arrives at the scene of action. Then the task of the tout has been completed; but there is but small respite from his labours even in the winter months, when steeple-chasing is in the ascendant, and events of almost equal importance with those upon the flat are ripening for decision.

'To Trainers.-John Blank having absconded from my service at Newmarket, trainers are cautioned against employing him.W. WISP, Newmarket.' John Blank is the sort of stuff from which the spurious tout is manufactured, therefore let John Blank, the subject of the above Caution,' come forth and show himself, as he may be seen any day during race-meetings of all descriptions. The crowd is just separating from before the front of the Room at Newmarket, and the irregularly-built street is alive with a stream of hacks, carriages, and pedestrians. John Blank may be seen sunning himself in front of some low pothouse on the line of march. His billycock is battered and greasy, slouched over an unhealthy-looking face, crowned by the regulation Newgate crop, and his eyes wander anywhere from the gaze of the passers-by. The inevitable shawl, so strongly affected by the stable mind, is folded round his neck and adorned with a flash pin, and his jacket is buttoned tightly up, leaving the presence of linen to be guessed at. His unmentionables might have been stitched to his legs, and his boots are several sizes too large, bearing no traces of blacking, but rather the look of having been slept in. In fact, it is not often that he has a chance of getting between the sheets, and he is the casual' of any outhouse or hovel where a shake-down is to be found. He is ready for any kind of job, from leading a yearling round the sale-ring, to nobbling a Derby favourite, but he is too lazy to be caught watching gallops, and his word is so totally unreliable that all employment of that nature has long since departed from him. No trainer will suffer John Blank to darken his doors; but occasionally when any robbery of unexceptionable importance is to be perpetrated, he may be taken in tow by a gang of thieves, and instructed to put the strings on' at some petty Metropolitan Meeting, where no glasses are levelled from the Steward's Stand against the performances of jockeys of the Armstrong type. He will volunteer information to a stranger in a familiarly confidential tone, and take care, should his advice chance to prove beneficial, to claim some reward for his services. But he can never do himself any good, for drink is dragging him surely down