1 93 TPIE HISTORY AND ART 



He gave public rewards and prizes, and delighted to 

 be a witnefs of the contells of the courfe ; and when 

 refident at JVindfor, had races run at Datchet Mead ; but 

 the moil diilinguiflied fpot for thefe trials was New- 

 market, which, from the fitnefs of the ground, was firft 

 chofen, and has ever fince been facred to thefe Sports^ 

 which are itill as fuperior in England, as thofe of 

 Olympla are faid to have been in Greece *. 



The glory of this place now burfl out in the 

 brighteft fplendor. The king ufed to honour the 

 races with his prefence, and ellablifhed an houfe for 

 his reception. He condefcended fo far as to be a 



* Long before the inftitution of races, this chofen piece of ground 

 was frequently honoured by the prefence of thofe kings who loved 

 hunting, it being remarkably favourable to that fport. The manfion 

 now called the King's-Houfe, was their refidence, when they went to 

 Newmarket for the purpofe of hunting ; and it was not till fome time 

 before the troubles of the reign of Charles I. that this traft was deftined 

 to be an horfe-courfe ; but the races eftablifhed here felt the miferies of 

 the times, were difcontinued during the civil wars, nor revived till the 

 reltoration of thefbn and fucceflbrof the monarch who had firft diftin- 

 guifhed and prote£ted them. It Iliould fcem likewife, from the follow- 

 ing exrraiSt, that the fcience of racing was well underflood in this reign, 

 and advanced to a degree, almoft equal to the refinement of thefe en- 

 lightened times. Mejfieurs Hamillon envoyerent (fays the author) des 

 ■Cbevaux a M. le Due de Chevreufe, pour aUer voir la courfe de Monfieur 

 Germain neveu de Milord St. Alban^ le quel fur un petit cheval noir fut en 

 55 minutes a neuf milks loix du lieu dont il partita et on il revint ; fi bien 

 qu'en une heure (moins cinque minutes) il fit 1 8 milles, et g^.gna la gageurt 

 qu'il avoitfait. Un autre en mefme terns fit vingt milles^ et voulut de gager de 

 refaire a I'injiant la mefme chafe fur le meme cheval. 



Monconny's Travels, tome i. page 23. 



Can- 



