MR. KIRBY AND THE FOREIGNERS. 79 



taking it ; and the late Henry Neale, who was glad 

 to leave it for the milder air of St. Germain-en-laye, 

 the veritable Reesh-mond of France, emigrated in his 

 place. The highest prices Mr. Kirby ever received 

 from Nicholas were 2,000 guineas for Van Tromp, 

 and 2,250 guineas for General Chasse. The latter 

 was rather a compact, very good-looking horse, 

 though a trifle too short in the neck and barrel, dark 

 chesnut, with a light-coloured, high-set tail and 

 jnane, and, as Sir Robert Peel said of his great name- 

 sake, "a most unsurrendering countenance." He 

 was up to very high weights, but his victories, which 

 Jack Holmes had fairly to cut out of him with steel 

 and whalebone, were the most bloody we ever wit- 

 nessed, and in temper, as Mr. Kirby was wont to 

 say, "the Emperor Paul was nothing to him." He 

 bought him from Sir James Boswell in the winter of 

 1837, and shipped him as early as he could, in the 

 ensuing spring, without letting him see a mare. 

 In all his experience with horses, Mr. Kirby never 

 spent a more weary four months than he did with 

 this son of Actaeon. His first owner's impression 

 was that he " would not lead/ 5 but the lad eventu- 

 ally contrived to coax him from Gullane to York. 

 He commenced operations with his new groom when 

 he first walked him down a narrow lane near Walm- 

 gate Bar, and was kneeling 011 him and trying to 

 tear him to pieces, when a squadron of labourers 

 charged him with sticks and dung-forks, and made 

 him loose his hold . No one but Mr. Kirby dared give 

 him a ball, and his wild frenzy when he found him- 

 self hoppled for the occasion was fearfully beautiful 

 to see. As a last effort to sober him he was walked 

 to Hull without his shoes ; but foot-sore and tired as 

 he was, he resolutely refused to do more than put his 

 head out of the stable the next morning, so long as 

 the crowd, who had been attracted by his turf fame, 

 remained in the yard. When they were turned out 



