XVlll 



acknowledgment of error. This tacit acknowledg- 

 ment would be immaterial, were it not that many 

 of my readers are likely to be found among those 

 with whom the sporting reviews are familiar. 



One of my critics infers that I consider the 

 purchase of a good horse beyond the limits of 

 possibility. I do not go quite so far, though I 

 believe the difficulty to be truly great. I can 

 assure him that if he wants a good hackney, or a 

 tolerable hunter, I have a horse of either character 

 at this moment, that I shall be very happy to sell 

 to him on reasonable terms. 



Another critic is yet more unreasonable. He 

 acquits me of all sporting pretensions, because, 

 by an accident explained in the appendix, Mr. 

 Tattersall's name was erroneously spelt in the 

 earlier sheets ! He pronounces me guiltless of all 

 law, because I knew not that a decision of Mr. 

 Justice Burrough had been overruled in a case to 

 be " found nowhere," but which he, the critic, 

 " distinctly remembers" ! ! He writes me down 

 a cockney, for venturing to complain of a horse- 

 dealer's insolence ! ! ! And finally, he dubs me a 

 *^ Londoner," for presuming to fix the price of a 

 good hackney ! ! ! ! 



Pauci dignoscere possunt, 



Vera bona atque illis multum diversa. 



