FOURTH PERIOD : VICTORIA 227 



attained the dignity of a 'literary gent'), and the 

 apotheosis of the overpaid jockey. 



It was in the twenty- first year of her Majesty's 

 reign (in 1857) that the complete ascendancy of 

 the Jockey Club may be said to have attained 

 accomplishment, by a sort of coiip d^dtat, as a 

 committee was then appointed to draw up a new 

 code for the regulation of racing, which code was 

 published in the next year without the usual 

 limitation of this, that, or the other 'to New- 

 market only.' From that time to this the Club 

 has exercised the mastery, without any modest 

 reservation and without any opposition, all over 

 the country ; binding and loosing whom it will, 

 licensing race-courses and jockeys and all and 

 sundry, imposing fines and charging fees, ' warn- 

 ing off' and anon remitting punishments and pro- 

 hibitions, altering rules from time to time, and 

 fixing dates for race-meetings, not only at New- 

 market, but everywhere else in Great Britain. 



The self-stultification of the Club is twofold, 

 and is made apparent thus : in 1838 it passed a 

 resolution expressing its extreme disapprobation 

 of horses beingr started that were not intended to 



