362 AGRICULTURE AND THE HORSE. 



ence to those who differ from me, that he has found 

 his most congenial companions where cultivation and 

 refinement have prevailed, from the days of Pha- 

 raoh until now. As the arts of life advance, how 

 he goes with them ! I find him in Arabia, the ally 

 and protector and companion of man, his best posses- 

 sion there. I find him immortalized in the finest 

 marbles of ancient Greece and Rome. I find his name 

 connected with great human exploits. I find pages in 

 history dedicated to the record of his wonderful deeds 

 on the turf and the road, at labor, in the chase, and on 

 the field of battle. Kings have devoted the royal 

 treasury to his increase, improvement, and comfort ; 

 and ambitious and enthusiastic agriculturists have ap- 

 plied themselves unsparingly to his introduction into 

 the best regions and systems of farming. Why, what a 

 flood of charming associations and memories rushes 

 around us as we recall the position which the horse 

 has held for almost all time ! William the Conqueror 

 and his Norman horses, King John and his Flemish 

 stallions, the admiring crowds that gathered round the 

 Darley and the Godolphin Arabian, the enthusiastic 

 admirers of Sir Archy and Sir Charles, of Lexington 

 and Boston, of old Eclipse, the studs of Washington, 

 the thorough breds of Jefferson, — it is not worth while 

 to tell me that there is nothing more in all this than the 

 simple ownership of so many merchantable animals, to 

 be valued by weight in the market. In great events 

 of joy and sorrow, in crises and revolutions, the horse 



