1633-1634.] THE STAND TEMP. CHARLES I. 97 



Mr. Sheardown does not give any authority to, 

 or reference for, the preceding statement, which may, 

 nevertheless, be quite authentic, as it emanates from 

 so high an authority on this subject. The engraving 

 to which he alludes is, doubtless, that given in " Old 

 England " (London : Charles Knight and Co., Lud- 

 gate Street, 1845, f^-* Book iv., cap. lii., p. 228,) 

 which we have reproduced. It is a curious coinci- 

 dence that the authors in the last-mentioned work 

 do not give any clue as to the origin or whereabouts 

 of the original drawing, which we have been unable 

 to discover. In the letterpress explanatory to the 

 engraving, the writer in " Old England " says : " Horse- 

 racing is in itself a sport recommended by many 

 attractions to all who delight in the exhibition of the 

 powers of this beautiful and generous-spirited creature : 

 and deeply it is to be regretted that a sport so suited 

 to the national taste should be degraded and made 

 mischievous by the gambling and profligacy that 

 accompany it. We have here, however, only to do 

 with the sport itself, independent of its dangerous 

 concomitants. Newmarket, as the metropolis of the 

 sporting world, has obtained a European reputation. 

 The course, which extends four miles in length, is 

 considered to be the finest in existence. The fame 

 of Newmarket began soon after the destruction of the 

 Spanish Armada. Some horses, which had escaped 

 from the wrecked vessels, are said to have been ex- 

 hibited here, and to have astonished those who beheld 

 their extraordinary swiftness. In a very short space 

 of time, racing had grown fashionable, and James I. 



vor.. IT. H 



