ON PURCHASE AND SALE. 165 



ordeal of town fervice, are to be divided into 

 feveral clafTes ; for example, into thofe which 

 have done their work; thofe miferable devils 

 which were never calculated to do any, but are 

 deftined to beat the rounds of London until 

 they are fwallowed up in the vortex and difap- 

 pear ; thofe which are in various degrees injured 

 by labour or ill-ufage, but which are recover- 

 able by care; and thofe w^hich have been chop- 

 ped and changed, and difcarded, to be replaced 

 perhaps for infinitely worfe, by ignorant and 

 capricious owners. Behold an ample field for 

 the exercife of judgment in horfes ; and Ihould 

 a man venture there, even without poffeffing 

 that judgment, it is a lottery where he may 

 perhaps gain a prize, and where, at the worft, 

 his blank will be worth fomething. It is appa- 

 rent then, that good nags may be found at a 

 repofitory, by thofe who have wit enough to 

 pick them out ; and equally apparent, that 

 there is a chance to meet with fecond-hand ones 

 at the private ftable of a dealer, who fells none 

 but fuch as are " freili from the breeders in the 

 " country." 



There may be perhaps, upon the average, 

 from five to fifteen guineas faved in the price of 

 a nag by purchafing at a repofitory ; it is for 

 the adventurer to confider, whether that pre- 

 mium be adequate to the rifk. Many of the 

 befi: cattle in the country have been fold at 



au6lion 



