364 AGRICUIiTHRE AND THE HORSE. 



for the weary toil of the brewery and the coal-yard; 

 he finds a hardy, diminutive, busy, cool, and sagacious 

 member of his family browsing on the moss and ferns 

 of the Orkneys ; he hails from the desert the lithe and 

 sinewy form of a more immediate relative ; he looks 

 on with amazement as his self-poised American cousin 

 whirls along the road with that tremendous stride 

 which has been developed by the wants of a free and 

 driving people, each one of whom is bound to reach 

 his destination first ; and he is amazed to find a rough 

 and wiry specimen of his race scouring the plains in 

 all the vigor of savage life. Preserving his horse char- 

 acteristics under all circumstances, and in whatever 

 form he may appear, he gradually adapts himself to 

 soil and climate with a readiness unknown to any other 

 animal but man. And more than this : on the battle- 

 field he is a war-horse ; on the race-course he is a deer ; 

 on the farm he is a drudge ; on the road he is a locomo- 

 tive ; at the civic procession he is as airy as his rider ; 

 as a hack he is sagacious in the use of his forces ; at 

 the stage-coach he is "flying all abroad;" at the pri- 

 vate carriage he is as proud and disdainful as the 

 petted beauty who sits behind him ; at the funeral he 

 is as melancholy as the mourners. 



Now, sir, do you wonder that I admire an animal 

 whose status and genius I have just described as I 

 understand them ? I do not object to other animals : 

 I respect them as I do the trees planted by my fathers, 

 and the mill-ponds which they dammed " for the public 



