FOR PEACE AND WAR. 25 



CHAPTER III. 



When the Romans invaded England, under Csesar, tliey 

 found an indigenous wild horse, partly subdued by the 

 inhabitants, and this native animal was known for ages 

 after to roam districts of the island in a perfectly feral 

 state. They ought to be more properly termed ponies than 

 horses ; being of diminutive stature, great hardihood, and 

 extraordinary intelligence and cunning. 



To the horses of the Alec, or auxiliary cavalry, and other 

 horses of the expedition, we attribute the foundation of 

 that race for which the British islands are so famous. The 

 Anglo-Saxon conquest introduced another " cross." The 

 Romans, in their economy regarding horse breeding, evinced 

 inferiority in judgment and foresight to the Greeks. In a 

 numerous body of their writers, not one felt the importance 

 of advancing the theory of sound and improving principles 

 of horse breeding. They believed in all the superstitions 

 and absurdities of the idle inventions of silly, and ignorant, 

 or vicious people ; and were easily imposed upon by dealers. 

 " If proof was wanted of the true appreciation of the im- 

 portance good breeds of horses are to a state, we shall find 

 it in the absence of all government institutions of the kind 

 amongst the Romans, until taught by the misfortunes this 

 neglect had brought upon the empire. Some such establish- 

 ments for improvement and supply of " the raw material " 

 were adopted in the Asiatic conquests." 



