LA TOUCQUES, VERMOUT, FILLE DE l'aIR, GLADIATEUR 135 



Englishman to the French pretext of compliment and 

 chivalrous compensation. Tlie origin of the Grand 

 Prix de Paris is traced by the saturnine Englishman to 

 French vanity, which the Emperor of the French and 

 his '• familiar' tlie Duke de Morny knew very well indeed 

 and were especially anxious to gratify. The Gallic 

 cock, as we have seen, had been crowing loudly over 

 the improvement of their horseflesh and their successes 

 upon tlie Turf, both English and Continental, insomuch 

 that at the end of the season of 18G2 there was among 



o 



the fxrst favourites — if he were not the very first 

 favourite — for the English Derby of 1863 a French 

 colt, Hospodar. ' Go to,' then, said Napoleon and De 

 Morny, according to the saturnine Englishman, ' let us 

 have at Paris a great horse race, open to all peoples, 

 nations, and laniruajTjes ; let a French horse run for it 

 and win it, beating perfidious Albion (whose best horses 

 may peradventure be absent because of her ridiculous 

 Sabbath) and all the " cracks " of the Continent before 

 the eyes of a polyglot multitude and in tlie sight of the 

 Parisians, and Paris will be mad with delight, the glory 

 of France and the Empire will be enhanced, the memory 

 of Waterloo will be partly obliterated.' Of course the 

 favouritism of Hospodar had not been revealed when 

 the Grand Prix was projected, for the engagements for 

 that race had to be made before July 1, 1862 ; but 

 French chanticleer had been heard lono; before that and 

 was ' spoiling ' to ' show off ' on his ' own dunghill ' (if 

 such a term may be applied to delightful Longchamps) 

 before ' tout le monde ' and particularly his own dear Pa- 

 risians, with ' tout le monde ' running horses against him. 

 In 1863 the most noted French horses were, in 

 France, Alerte (four years, winner of the Prix du 

 Cadran), Villafranca (three years, winner of the Prix de 

 Longchamps), Souvenir (four years, winner of what is 



