FOR PEACE AND WAR. 3 



cavalry, due, as lie maintains, almost entirely to the quality 

 of their chargers. And this, notwithstanding the fact that 

 France, with her three and a half millions of horses, has at 

 least a million more than Germany. The inferiority of the 

 French horses he attributes (properly, there can be no 

 physiological doubt) to the want of careful selection as 

 to sires of unquestionable attributes, as in other neighbour- 

 ing states. Prussia has two thousand stallions, or nearly so, 

 in the Government military studs, or haras ; Austria has 

 more, and all selected by one of the finest judges in 

 the world, well known and much-liked in this country 

 by all breeders and owners of high-class stock ; Hungary 

 can count as many ; while Russia has the vast number of 

 six thousand horses for re-productive purposes. And be it 

 borne in mind, that these are all animals carefully super- 

 vised by competent and duly commissioned officers capable 

 of weighing the merits and demerits of each candidate for 

 the duties of the harem. It is only by comparison we can 

 judge of anything; Government haras, under the ablest 

 supervision that careful selection can command, have been 

 found to work well in other countries, where there is not so 

 much sentimental respect paid to private enterprise when 

 national interest hangs in the balance. The French, like 

 ourselves, have discovered a rent in their armour. They 

 wisely make an attempt to repair the injury; we, with 

 characteristic insular apathy and procrastination in any- 

 thing that costs money and trouble, gravely shake our heads 

 and put our hands in our pockets, not to pull out the 

 needful for the regenerative efforts we are forced to 

 own are too sadly required, but, as a lazy fellow will do, 

 while he contemplates something requiring prompt exertion 

 that he has not the energy to tackle. But it is worse than 

 useless in so regarding this admitted national calamity ; for, 

 like the stiff fences we meet with the fox-hounds, the longer 



