178 THE POCKET AND THE STUD. 



but, on the contrary, gets one that persons who 

 know the horse tell him, and tell him truly, is 

 cheap at the price paid, he may still get him too 

 dear, that is, he may be dear to him : for unless 

 he has had forethought enough to consider the 

 kind of country the horse comes from, he may find, 

 when he gets him into the one he hunts, that he is 

 not worth half the money. 



Now, let us take the thing in a diametrically 

 opposite point of view, and we shall see where 

 the owner is the best judge of his horse. 



We will suppose a man has more hunters than 

 he wants, and wishes to diminish the number; 

 of course his wish would be to sell those that 

 he, for some reason or other, liked the least ; 

 but rather than keep them all, he determines to 

 sell any (say) three of them, a sensible re- 

 solve enough, if a man is not of great wealth, and 

 happens to be one of those who are tolerable 

 hands at making hunters. The man of wealth 

 has no occasion to part with anything that he 

 likes. The man who is not a horseman and 

 judge of horses, never should part with one that 

 carries him to his satisfaction: the man who is, 

 always should, if he gets his price ; for, only give 

 him spring, speed, and stamina, he can make a 

 hunter, as a carpenter can make a table if he gets 

 the proper wood. We suppose the person wanting 

 to sell to be one of these, and a gentleman looking 



