50 THE ADVENTURES OF A GENTLEMAN 



which this implies for an object of comparatively 

 trifling importance, the simpler alternative is to 

 trust to the character and judgment of any of our 

 principal dealers. Their stables are usually sup- 

 plied from the country fairs ; few of them buy for 

 themselves; they employ agents, who live by the 

 occupation, and whose interest of course is to buy 

 judiciously. Such agents are, for the most part, 

 familiar with the stock of every extensive breeder, 

 and know well what to reject. 



London dealers of this class are respectable men ; 

 they know and avoid the stigma of unfair play. I 

 have found many of them deceived : I have tried 

 three horses from one stable in the same day, and 

 two have fallen with me ; but the dealer at once dis- 

 covered the cause to be in the horse ; and was, or 

 appeared, sincerely, to be more annoyed at the re- 

 proach he felt to be due for mounting me unsafely, 

 than at the injury his property had sustained. 



It is as true in horse-dealing, as in any other 

 trade, that constant and permanent success depends 

 on character, as well for honesty as for judgment. 

 A man may sell a bad horse to advantage, but he 

 knows that, if chargeable with an intention to de- 



