306 THE ADVENTURES OF A GENTLEMAN 



tion was raised whether the defendant had repudiated 

 goods within a reasonable time, the Court of Exche- 

 quer, upon the argument for a new trial, held that 

 the judge had rightly thrown on the defendant the 

 burthen of proof that they had been repudiated 

 within a reasonable time : I need scarcely observe 

 that if this is sound doctrine in the case of a purchase 

 of goods generally, it particularly applies to the case 

 of a horse. The reader should advert to the case of 

 Adam v. Richards, 2 H. B. 573, hereafter fully 

 quoted, on the necessity of a speedy return of an 

 unsound horse. 



It is scarcely necessary to observe that except under 

 circumstances of premeditated deceit capable of clear 

 proof, the sale of an unsound for a sound horse is 

 not an offence cognizable by our criminal courts. 

 This is established by Lord Mansfield in the case of 

 the King v. Wheatley, 2 Burr. 1125 : " The selling 

 an unsound horse as and for a sound one, is not indict- 

 able ; the buyer should be more upon his guard." My 

 reader must bear this in mind when I speak of deceit 

 and fraudulent representation. But if the fraud is 

 concocted . with deliberation and plan, I conceive that 

 it is indictable, and when several parties concur in 



