THE HOUSE IN EUROPE. 315 



his neck so often depends upon the pluck and bottom 

 of his steed ; and it is also to the interest of the agri- 

 culturist that he should bear in mind the greater vigour 

 ascribed to the horse. 



In France, assuredly, the fact appears to be con- 

 sidered deserving of attention ; for, in the old days of 

 the diligence, who does not remember the neighing of 

 the stallions by which it was generally drawn ? and we 

 have a vivid recollection of the number of horses in the 

 cavalry regiments of France. 



But while the book abounds with striking contrasts 

 between the horse and his rider in Europe and in the 

 African desert, the greatest novelty to many a reader 

 is the political and religious aspect of the horse among 

 Mussulmans. We prize the noble creature for his phy- 

 sical qualities, as well as for his mental endowments. 

 We know his worth as our ally in peace and in war ; 

 and his social instincts induce us to be with him on 

 terms of friendliness. The gift of a valuable horse is 

 deemed worthy of the acceptance of the mightiest 

 kings, in symbol of homage or of friendship. And 

 thus the Queen of Great Britain has from time to time 

 received presents of their finest horses from the chief 

 rulers among the nations. When, in 1860, the Emperor 

 and Empress of the French visited Algiers, the various 

 tribes, whose long resistance had yielded to the per- 

 severing assaults of the French, were assembled to do 

 homage to the Emperor, the chiefs, clad in their richest 

 dresses, alighted from their steeds, and advanced in a 

 body to present the richly caparisoned horse of homage. 



Though we know all this, and are aware that the 

 British is the most equestrian nation in the world, most 

 of us will be surprised to learn that, in the faith of 

 Islam, the horse is invested with a kind of sacredness 

 which has signally advanced the purposes of Moham- 

 medan ambition. The Jewish lawgiver, with the de- 

 sign of confining the Hebrews to Palestine, and pre- 

 serving them a peculiar people, expressly forbade the 



