264 WARRANTING. 



exactly similar questions, you may judge of the 

 difficulties you might occasionally be placed in, 

 as a seller, by warranting. I have used the 

 w^ord might throughout them all, nothing regard- 

 ing horseflesh in law being positively certain, for 

 so much depends on particular circumstances. 

 Unsoundness itself is sometimes sufficient to 

 break a warranty ; at other times there must 

 have been knowledge of the unsoundness. Most 

 cases are questions for the jury, rather than 

 of law. No legal contract can be founded on 

 fraud, and wilful deception amounts in law to 

 fraud. This is plain enough; yet, if you take 

 your case to law, the chances are always nearly 

 equal, whether it will be decided for or against 

 you ; " not from any defect in the law, but 

 because both buyer and seller have ahvays proofs 

 of the shameful transaction." 



Suppose you gain your cause : if you have 

 been a seller, your horse may be returned to 

 you half-ruined ; and if you have been a pur- 

 chaser, you are always bound to return a horse 

 in as good a state as he was when taken from 

 the seller's hands. Here is a second affair that 

 may upset your first, and cost you another large 

 sum. Avoid law, if possible, and never enter 

 into any discussion : " your character, if you 



