52 THE ARAB THE HORSE OF THE FUTURE 



Lord Curzon of Kedleston follows suit, and is 

 evidently alive to this terrible weakness of his 

 countrymen. He called attention to it in his great 

 speech at the Guildhall when receiving the freedom 

 of the City of London, July 28, 1904. He was 

 diplomatic in his language, which was none the less 

 impressive on that account. 



'You have only to look,' said he, 'to the news- 

 papers to see that, with rare exceptions, the average 

 Englishman is much more interested in the latest 

 football or cricket match, in a motor trial or in a 

 wrestling encounter, than in the greatest responsi- 

 bility' (the government of India) 'that has been under- 

 taken by his countrymen on the face of the earth.' 



Is it a good thing for a country that that could be 

 said of it ? I wonder why Lord Curzon forgot 

 horse-racing ? 



Kipling also says, ' You train your horses and the 

 dogs you feed and prize,' and that is done till little 

 is thought of except training in order to gamble. 

 The horse is not valued for his usefulness, but for 

 his lack of usefulness ; not for the real work he can 

 do, but for his ability to run one or two short- 

 distance races, even if he then perish, as indeed he 

 often does. In all animal nature, if you highly 

 develop one quality, that is inevitably developed at 

 the expense of some other quality. The horse is 

 no exception. All along the line the mischief has 

 increased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished. 

 The papers are full of eloquent descriptions of the 



