THE DUKE OF MONMOUTH 255 



" Now possibly you may say that this was 

 not a fayre starting, but the critics say after the 

 word Goe was out of his mouth his commission 

 was determined, and it was illegall for him to 

 say Stay. I suppose there will be Volumes 

 written upon this Subject ; 'tis all refered to 

 his Majesty's Judgment, who hath not yet de- 

 termined it." 



Another staunch supporter of horse racing 

 in Charles II.'s reign was the ill-starred Duke 

 of Monmouth, whose career on the English Turf 

 ended abruptly when in 1682 he was practically 

 sent abroad as an exile. 



Early in the following year, however, the idea 

 occurred to Louis XIV. that as horse racing had 

 become so popular in England he would like to 

 make it the national pastime of France also. In 

 order to foster public interest in the turf, there- 

 fore, he began by offering a plate valued at 

 1000 pistoles to be run for at Echere, near St 

 Germain. 



The event attracted, as he had expected it would, 

 much attention, not only throughout France, but 

 in several other European countries as well, so 

 that in the end some of the finest horses to be 

 found anywhere in Europe were entered for the 

 race. 



All went well until a short time before the date 

 of the race, when a rumour spread mysteriously 

 that a gelding owned by the Hon. Thomas 



