200 HISTORY OF 



could not supply two thousand horses to form our 

 cavalry. At present the former numbers seem 

 revived ; so that in the late war we furnished out 

 above thirteen thousand horsemen, and could, if 

 hard pushed, supply above four times that num- 

 ber. How far this great increase of horses among 

 us may be beneficial or otherwise, is not the pro- 

 per business of the present page to discuss ; but 

 certain it is, that where horses increase in too 

 great a degree, men must diminish proportiona- 

 bly ; as that food which goes to supply the one, 

 might very easily be converted into nourishment 

 to serve the other. But perhaps it may be specu- 

 lating too remotely, to argue for the diminution 

 of their numbers upon this principle, since every 

 manufacture we export into other countries takes 

 up room, and may have occupied that place which 

 in a state of greater simplicity might have given 

 birth and subsistence to mankind, and have s added 

 to population. 



Be this as it will, as we have been at such ex- 

 pense and trouble to procure an excellent breed 

 of horses, it is not now to be expected that we 

 should decline the advantages arising from it, just 

 when in our possession. It may be, therefore, 

 the most prudent measure in our legislature to 

 encourage the breed, as an useful branch of com- 

 merce, and a natural defence to the country. But 

 how far this end is answered tyy the breeding up 

 of racers, is what most persons versed in this sub- 

 ject are very apt to question. They assert, that 

 the running horse, as the breed has been for a 

 long time refined, is unfit for any other service 



