BREAKING. 127 



so palpably striking, they naturally excited 

 every unremitting endeavour to reclaim him. 

 The task, however, for the first two or three 

 weeks bore the most unpromising aspect ; no 

 method that I could adopt seemed to have 

 the least effect upon the obduracy of his dis- 

 position ; hardened to an almost invincible 

 spirit of opposition by former victories on his 

 side, and repeated ill usage on the other, 

 neither persuasive encouragement nor vio- 

 lence could prcvail on him to move a single 

 yard forward but when it was perfectly his 

 own pleasure : he would not only continually 

 stop in all paces, vvrithoutthe least obstacle or 

 visible cause whatever, and continue his de- 

 termination not to go at all forward for a 

 great length of time, but persevere in a re- 

 trograde motion an incredible distance, with 

 the usual concomitants of rearing^ plunging^ 

 and kicking, to so violent a degree, that num- 

 bers, of a much more serene and philosophic 

 temper than myself, would have certainly pro- 

 ceeded intheir resentment to the utmost extre- 

 mity, and some time or other have left him 

 crippled or dead upon the spot. In this daily 

 dilemma, it was the general opinion of inti- 

 mate friends, and those who were constant 



