EVILS OF MODERN STABLES. 203 



hazard, to insist upon. The man, therefore, permits the cat to pur: 

 but among the horses he is resolved to enforce the extreme of quietude. 



The menial does not inquire whether an exquisite adaptation of sight, 

 so as to inspect the minutest particle and to view the most distant ob- 

 ject ; whether a sensibility of hearing, to which movements are audible, 

 when to the duller perceptions of the proprietor no sound vibrates on 

 the air; whether a keenness of scent which can appreciate qualities in 

 substances that to human sense are devoid of odor; or whether that 

 fleetness of motion, which the Creator permitted as a protection, the 

 ease of which machinery, when urged over common roads, has failed to 

 rival, — the servant does not inquire whether such attributes were given 

 by nature only to be fastened by the head, or to be confined within a 

 space in which absolute stagnation must ultimately induce bodily inca- 

 pacity. For nature's intentions the groom cares nothing. "He has his 

 doty to discharge and he will do it ! Master wishes the osses to be kept 

 quiet on a arternoon ; and he's the chap as will see the guv'nor is not 

 disappointed !" 



Such a doom can alone be varied by the hours of labor and the periods 

 of feeding. To the animal thus surrounded, recreation is impossible, 

 and its lodging is so small that bodily ease is unattainable. Yet the 

 horse is kept for the use of its limbs; those who have observed the 

 quadruped canter round the field into which it has been newly loosed, 

 know that enjoyment is not incompatible with its existence. No 

 pleasure, however, can be permitted within the stable. There, the 

 slightest rustle or the gentlest indication of motion is jealously noted. 

 Most equestrians like their quadrupeds to be still after feeding ; because 

 perfect quietude is supposed to promote digestion and to encourage thrift 

 among the horses. The groom loves silence, because, to his mind, it is 

 so nice and so respectable. Besides, when no sound disturbs the mo- 

 notony of the building, the groom can luxuriate in the sense of absolute 

 idleness — a feeling which most servants recognize and enjoy. If any 

 sound interferes with the afternoon's luxury, a harsh and taunting shout 

 rebukes the inconsiderate disturber. " Now ! Then 1 There I What 

 ails you?" 



The dreaded accents of the tyrant's voice may, for a space, banish the 

 oppression of captivity. The animals, under the influence of newly 

 awakened terror, may be enabled to shrink into absolute silence ; but, as 

 the fear fades, the full reality of their position cannot otherwise than be 

 felt in all its horrors. Fed upon stimulating food, how their spirits must 

 languish, and how poignantly the aching limbs must suggest those 

 pleasures there is no prospect of the prisoners ever again enjoying! 

 Every little incident is seized upon with an eagerness which attests the 



