37 



who deserved to have their gentility unrobed at the 

 cart's tail ; yet the confession has been received 

 with envious applause by scamps of the same order, 

 who wanted the address, but not the will, to show 

 their knavery to similar advantage. 



Horse auctions or commission stables are only 

 one degree removed. I have been accustomed to 

 frequent them all, and in all I observe the same 

 faces, hear the same coarse jokes, and very fre- 

 quently recognize the same horses brought to sale 

 half a dozen times in a season. The reason is ob- 

 vious ; these places form the market of the trade, 

 and like all other markets, are frequented by the 

 lowest class both of dealers and customers. The 

 proprietors cannot help it if they would; but their 

 interest lies the other way. The commission is the 

 same on a good or a bad horse ; but as nine out of 

 ten fall under the latter description, the profit is 

 essentially derived from their sale. Hackney-coach 

 owners, jobbers, hucksters, travellers, butchers, 

 bakers, and all the tradesmen who require light 

 carts for the conveyance of their goods, frequent 

 these places; and to meet the demand of such 

 customers, all the refuse of the field, after the 

 hunting season is over, and all the disabled cattle 

 of the summer stages to Brighton, Southampton, 

 and so forth, when these places are deserted, are 



