PREFACE. XI 



furious philippic against that ingenioushody 

 of men. Such an attack would be dangerous 

 in the extreme, not only on account of the 

 number, but also the rank of the parties, as 

 it is a well known fact, that this respectable 

 profession is not confined to that branch 

 who attend the public fairs, and take out 

 licences, for many of our Nobility and 

 Gentry manifest a laudable ambition to 

 rival its members in the exercise of its pe- 

 culiar mysteries. 



There is this distinction, however, between 

 the conmion and the gentleman dealer, viz. 

 that the former is obliged to warfant a 

 horse sound before he can sell him, whereas 

 the latter simply avers, that he believes the 

 horse to be sound, but that it is not his 

 custom to give a warranty. Thus the first is 

 bound by law, the latter by honour ; never- 

 theless, there are some eccentric and narrow- 

 minded purchasers, who, in spite of the 

 numerous bright examples of modern ho- 

 nour, prefer the former mode of dealing to 

 the latter ; but, far be it from me to assert, 

 that they are thereby more secure. The 

 law, indeed, takes cognizance of deceptive 

 practices in this branch of traffic, as well 



as of any other; the difficulty of putting it 



c 



