wealthy; or else to seek other courses. So in 1872 we find three or four firms occupying a large share of the papers, and giving forth promises without stint. Whether the original forcer was in any of these partnerships it is impossible to tell, as the names were, as a rule, fictitious, and often changed; but whether or not, it is certain that those who advertised heaviest drove all small thieves from the field, and so, two years back, the business, as far as we are concerned, was carried on chiefly by Adkins & Wood, Robert Danby & Co., Marshall & Grant, and James Rawlings & Co., who advertised quite separately, but whose notifications might very easily have been the work of one pen. We will therefore take Rawlings & Co. to represent the fraternity, and in their advertisement which appeared at the end of April 1872 will be found the peculiarities of all the others. This is it : DIGBY GRAND sent to every season subscriber, and for a place at 6 to 1, to every reader of Published by the Proprietors every Saturday, at their chief office, 65 York Place, Edinburgh. THE PREMIER RACING CIRCULAR still maintains its wellmerited reputation as the only infallible and unerringly-successful winning guide, by the aid of which private backers can and do, week by week, realise hundreds of pounds with perfect safety over the principal races throughout the kingdom. The uninterrupted series of successes which have attended its vaticinations during past seasons have been gloriously crowned by the success of every special investment advised in its pages this season, as will be seen by the following list of winners already given : Thus a 10 stake on each of our selections already made this season has now won the handsome sum of £1,164 after deducting our commission of 5 per cent. If one statement of the above glorious triumph is untrue, we boldly invite our subscribers and clients to expose us in the fullest manner in the sporting papers. Promptitude, despatch, exactitude, and liberality, as in the past, will ever be our watchwords in the future. Every reader of "The Sporting Life" is earnestly invited to send at once for this week's number, as the information therein contained will enable everyone to win a little fortune over that splendid and highly lucrative mode of investment It is rarely that we advise this method of investing, but when we have sent out to our clients a double event it has never failed to come off. Last year we advised a double event for these races Two Thousand... One Thousand Bothwell... Won Won And this year both our selections are, if possible, greater and more undeniable certainties. THE TWO THOUSAND GUINEAS. Of all the good things that in the course of a long and varied experience on the Turf it has ever been our good fortune to be possessed of, we cannot recall a single occasion on which every attendant circumstance combined so surely to render, as in the present instance, the race such an absolute foregone conclusion for our selection. The trial which took place this week was unprecedented in its severity, and, to the surprise of owner and trainer, the animal performed so far beyond their most sanguine expectations or hopes as to show them that success is reduced to the greatest moral certainty ever known in the history of the English Turf. This is an opportunity similar to those that have made the fortunes of many of our most wealthy speculators, for whom, as in the present instance, victory is a foregone conclusion and defeat a moral impossibility. Everyone should seize the opportunity of reaping the rich harvest of golden fruit that awaits the bold speculator of foregone conclusions like this. THE ONE THOUSAND GUINEAS. It is to us an easy task to select the winner of this race, as the immense superiority she enjoys over every other animal engaged (known only to owner, trainer, and ourselves) is so vast that this race will be little more than an exercise canter for this speedy filly. So quietly has this good thing been nursed by the shrewd division to which the mare belongs, that a real good price is now to be had, though when this superb specimen of an English thoroughbred is seen at the post, we are confident that even money will be eagerly snapped up by those who till then neglect to back her. THE DOUBLE EVENT, as stated above, is as sure to come off as these lines are in print. Send then at once for this week's number, and do not delay an hour if you wish to land a fortune over these two genuine certainties. We could wish no better opportunity to display the genuine good things sent out by the "Premier Racing Circular" than these two races present, and we beg that everyone will at once send six stamps and stamped addressed envelope for this week's number, and stand these morals to win them a fortune. Address JAMES RAWLINGS and Co., If we were not certain that these men got large sums of money from willing victims, it would seem almost impossible that people could be found credulous enough to believe that absolute certainty could be secured on the turf. Certainty of losing is naturally much easier than certainty of winning, and yet even loss cannot be reduced to less than imminent probability so long as a horse goes to the post unphysicked, and the jockey is not allowed to openly pull him. And so, though no one will attempt to defend Messrs Rawlings & Co., their dupes deserve but the smallest amount of pity; for even the most foolish of them must have known that certainty of winning to them must have meant certainty of losing to the other side, and that therefore, even if the contract had been carried out, somebody must have been swindled. If it were not for the greed and avarice which mainly direct the actions of those who are generally known as fools, magsmen, sharpers, discretionaryinvestment commissioners, and voucher-forcers would have to take to honest employment. This may seem a truism, yet when a skittle-sharper or "street-mugger" is tried in a police court, and convicted for having victimised a “flat,” it never seems to strike the magistrate or the general public that the prisoner simply swindled a man who had all the will but not the ability to swindle him. And there can be no reasonable doubt-we should much like to see the matter tried that the principal supports of rogues are the most grasping, selfish, and hard-hearted of mortals, and not at all the soft, good-natured bumpkins that they are generally depicted. We should not like to trust to either the honour or the honesty of any man who had been concerned even as a victim in one of the transactions which now and again appear in the police reports; and if we had any sympathy, which is not very likely, to bestow on either side, it would certainly be given to the man who gets sent to prison. Rawlings & Co. seem to have managed the spring campaign of 1872 very successfully, for while other members of the same brotherhood had to drop out of the papers or to appear in new guise after April, we find our heroes still merrily addressing the public from the front page of the sporting papers of June 8, and as able to guarantee freedom from loss as ever. And though it may not seem long from the end of April to this early part of June, it must be recollected that within that space several very important meetings are held, and that dismal gaps are found in the ranks of both " "wrong" and "right ” men after a Derby, especially after such a Derby as Cremorne's, which found out the weak spots in a good many big books, and altered the prospects of many a turfite, professional and amateur. So finding Rawlings so well through, we were tempted at the time to communicate with him, and discover the principle upon which he "forced the voucher." Here is his advertisement of June 8, in which he glories in past triumphs and feels confident of future successes :— J CREMORNE, QUEEN'S MESSENGER, AND REINE. AMES RAWLINGS and Co., the oldest established Turf advisers in Great Britain; proprietors of THE PREMIER RACING CIRCULAR, the most successful winning guide extant. THE HE PREMIER RACING CIRCULAR, selected Cremorne and Reine. THE HE PREMIER RACING CIRCULAR of this day contains three certainties. THE 'HE PREMIER RACING CIRCULAR'S selections pulled off the double event for the Derby and Oaks, likewise Queen's Messenger for a place at 4 to I. THE `HE PREMIER RACING CIRCULAR has this season selected each and every important winner, as may be seen by referring to back numbers of this publication, invaluable alike to large and small speculators. The proprietors beg respectfully to draw the attention of that section of the public who have neglected to take advantage of the opportunities that they have, for the past three months, weekly drawn attention to in the columns of this and other journals, that this week's number of the Premier Racing Circular will contain three of the greatest morals and most undeniable certainties ever known in this or any other era of the Turf's history, namely, the winner of THE ASCOT STAKES, a real good thing, at a real good price. Over this race any gentleman may safely invest as heavily as he may think fit, as we know that our selection cannot be beaten; the course is peculiarly adapted to the animal's action, and the stable have satisfied themselves, past question |