46 THE POCKET AND THE STUD. 



occasion of more deaths than they are accused of. 

 Provided the horse is comfortable and healthy, it 

 certainly matters not, as an abstract fact, where he 

 is kept ; but it is not very easy to know, but by 

 consequences and the effect of time, whether he is 

 comfortable, or healthy. He may be comfortable 

 but not healthy. He may also be healthy, but 

 not absolutely comfortable. I grant this cannot 

 go on ad infinitum, without our finding it out; but 

 then the evil is done, either in a temporary way or 

 in a lasting one. It is really singular, or rather 

 remarkable, how constantly we see very clever 

 men permitting all sorts of annoyances to exist 

 about them, and though we may daily hear them 

 regretting the existence of the evil, yet take no 

 steps towards remedying it. The suffering these 

 inconveniences to go on very frequently arises 

 from sending for a mechanic in the first instance, 

 instead of consulting their own common sense. 

 The mechanic's interest is, of course, to make a 

 job ; consequently, if twenty shillings would do 

 it, he recommends what will first cost five pounds 

 in the undoing, five pounds in materials, and then 

 another five pounds in doing up again. The con- 

 sequence is, the evil is allowed in many cases to 

 go on, rather than incur a heavy expense. 



I have frequently heard people complain of the 

 damp of their stables, and the water hanging on 

 the walls ; in almost every case this dampness is 



