8 THE ARAB THE HORSE OF THE FUTURE 



him ; and at seventy-three time is not provided in 

 very great excess of quantity. 



The general consensus of opinion of an age is, 

 of course, valuable, but, whether so or not, it is no 

 good to breed the best for sale if most people think 

 that the worst are better. People generally breed 

 what they can sell. But certainly, before the opinion 

 of an era can be of value, it ought to be founded on 

 proper data and on consideration of both sides of a 

 question. 



Supposing, however, that I am unduly interested 

 in favour of the Arab, that would not detract from 

 the weight of the opinion of the many eminently 

 neutral men whom I shall cite. The small amount 

 of interest which I have on the one side is as 

 nothing compared to the large amount of interest 

 of the hundreds of breeders of thoroughbreds on 

 the other side, who not only will not hear a single 

 word in disparagement of their favourite, but will 

 not hear a kind word said in favour of any other 

 man's favourite, and ridicule any attempt in that 

 direction. * The thoroughbred ' is English. Is that 

 not enough ? The placid contemptuousness of the 

 Englishman for everything foreign comes in at once 

 to satisfy him without inquiry that, as an Englishman 

 is worth two Frenchmen any day, therefore no horse 

 in the world can possibly equal an English horse ! 



Even if I do not get rid of my stock — I do not 

 complain — I may lose a few hundreds, which I can 

 set off against the pleasure I have had in breeding 



