362 THE JOCKEY CLUB 



of the Jockey Club). It is a curious fact that a com- 

 plaint similar to that which is implied in the proposal to 

 ' extend the basis ' of our Jockey Club has lately been 

 made by a French writer (Monsieur A. de Saint Albin) 

 concerning the ' exclusiveness ' of the French Jockey 

 Club (which consists of about two thousand members, 

 more or less). * II est tres regrettable,' we read, ' que 

 pour faire partie du Comite de la Societe d'Encourage- 

 ment, on doive necessairement faire partie du Jockey 

 Club,' and ' ce que je regretterai toujours, c'est que le 

 Comite de la Societe d'Encouragement reste ferme 

 pour une foule d'hommes de valeur, que leur situation 

 dans le monde de 1'elevage designerait tout naturelle- 

 ment pour avoir voix au chapitre.' What is curious 

 in this is that the ' Societe ' was the original foun- 

 dation out of which the now obstructive ' Club ' 

 or ' Cercle ' grew ; that it was possible at first to 

 belong to the ' Societe ' without belonging to the 

 * Cercle,' but not to belong to the ' Cercle ' without 

 belonging to the ' Societe ' ; that the subscriptions were 

 kept separate ; and that it was ruled that ' tout 

 Membre de la Societe peut, sur sa demande, etre 

 admis sans ballottage a faire partie du Cercle,' in Feb- 

 ruary, 1836, by which time (only three years from 

 the foundation of the ' Societe ') it seems obvious 

 that nobody was likely to be elected to the ' Societe ' 

 who would not be an eligible member of the ' Cercle.' 

 And, in fact, it appears that by 1838 there were but 

 eight members of the ' Societe ' who were not (how- 



