294 STAG-HUNrL\G RECOLLECTIONS 



' porcelaine ' were colours in great request. Louis XIV. him- 

 self always rode a pied horse on parade or at state ceremonies, 

 and would give a high price for a really conspicuous charger. 



M. Bocher speaks of the system of Haras instituted by 

 Colbert being maintained with a high hand (' puissamment ') 

 for over a century. Louis XIV. certainly liked having things 

 his own way. Yet the measures taken do not appear to have 

 effected the objects in view. They failed most conspicuously 

 in making France independent of the foreign supply. In 

 1717 a State paper,' after a sonorous prelude to the effect 

 that a supply of horses sufficient for all its wants is the chief 

 wealth and honour of a v/ell-governed State, gives practical 

 reasons for further subsidies to the State Haras. The public 

 service, runs the text, is still far from being self-supporting ; 

 ' Ton s'est vu reduit a traiter I'argent a la main avec des 

 marchands Juifs pour tous les besoins de la cavalerie, des 

 dragons, de I'artillerie et meme de la maison du roi.' 



If the Jews acted as middlemen, I dare say the needs of 

 the public service were much better supplied in this way 

 than by the mismanaged Haras, although the objection taken 

 to the ready-money element by the M. de Calonne type 

 of Finance Minister is easily understood. But ' Juifs ' here 

 may only mean exorbitant. Fond as they are of horses and 

 of riding, I do not think the Jews of Europe have ever 

 seriously turned their gifted attention to horse-dealing. At 

 the same time, it was a Jew who sold Ivanhoe the black 

 horse he did so well with at Ashby-de-la-Zouch. Sir Walter 

 Scott would never have got the horse into Isaac of York's 

 hands unless he had some historical authority. 



In 1790, State-aided horse-breedmg as organised by Sully 

 and Colbert was done away with. It was swept away in the 

 catastrophe of institutions, and I imagine it had altogether 

 failed to justify its existence. Besides, to be powerless for 



' ' Memoire du Conseil en dedans du Royaume.' 



