DISHONESTY. 215 



other words, that they could not submit to the in- 

 dignity of their masters' controlling their own affairs. 



Keally, such foolish conduct is little short of a stand- 

 ing danger to grooms as a class. 



As surely as fox-hunters and fools were once syno- 

 nymous terms, so surely will grooms and cheats defy a 

 separate distinction in the opinion of the bulk of society. 



Do not think, grooms — and I address you with deep 

 interest — that when your masters or mistresses complain 

 of what their carriage and horses cost them — of the 

 amount of the saddlers' and cornfactors' accounts, that 

 those listeners are all unlearned and fools in stable 

 management. There may chance to be some one or 

 more amongst them who knows better thaD yourselves, 

 not only what your real expenditure ought to have been, 

 but probably what it has been. 



For it is no secret how much oats cost, and how 

 much horses are able to consume ; nor is it any secret 

 how many brushes, combs, wrappers, and other stable 

 utensils, can be honestly worn out in the course of the 

 year. 



Therefore, as often as the subject is mentioned before 

 that person, so often do you run the risk of losing the 

 confidence of your employer, and your own character. 



The loss of character is the most serious blow that 

 can be inflicted on a man in any situation of life ; but 

 when that man is a servant in a place of trust, it be- 

 comes a still more serious calamity. 



Enough on the subject of honesty. 



I will now say a few words on the subject of duty. 



