The Foreign Market, 1 5 1 



comprise 1000 to 1500 mares each. Strict military 

 discipline is kept up, and all the grooms wear the red 

 collar uniform. The great object is to get the horses 

 as thorough-bred as possible, as the half-breds cannot 

 stand six or seven hours of manoeuvring on parade. 

 In the Royal stables alone, in Nicholas's day, there 

 were 600 chargers, and 600 in training, 1200 harness 

 horses, and 1200 in breaking; and these did not in- 

 clude those at Warsaw and Moscow. The chargers 

 were generally in the riding-school for two years 

 before the Emperor mounted them ; and if he had 

 marked one for his own when they first entered, he 

 never forgot its name. All the picked chargers were 

 divided between his four sons, when Nicholas died, 

 five or six to each, and after the coronation the whole 

 establishment was diminished. " No more till further 

 orders" was the ukase, and no more have been sent 

 for yet. 



It was to select a crack for the French gire Purchases 

 Government that the last legitimist agent, for the French 

 M. le Chevalier de Place, came over in Government. 

 the July of 1846. Gladiator was his heaviest and 

 most successful purchase, but Lanercost was his first 

 love that year. He became so much smitten with 

 him when Van Tromp had won his maiden race at 

 Liverpool, and was strongly fancied for the Cham- 

 pagne, that he bid Mr. Kirby 3000/. for the horse then 

 and there, but he could not be induced to sell. ^ On 

 the Doncaster Monday, the offer was renewed, with a 

 500/. bonus annexed, in case Van Tromp won next 

 day, but Mr. Kirby was still inexorable. Being thus 

 foiled he went off to Dean Hill, in pursuit of Gladiator, 

 and a cheque for 2000/. to Colonel Anson transferred 

 to Paris one of the most fortunate bargains they ever 

 made. He was a spiry, muscular, fifteen-two horse, 

 with such an elastic and beautiful trot, that as a park- 

 hack alone, he would at five years old have fetched 

 200/. Worthless, Ionian, Roebuck, and Prime Warden 



