EVILS OF MODERN STABLES. 213 



to fall upon the litter. The sport is followed up until the rack is emptied , 

 and the creature is a little happier, under a conviction that it has escaped 

 from absolute stagnation. 



Yet, when we consider the heap of "prime upland" which has been 

 spoiled, the subject cannot be allowed to pass without one word of in- 

 quiry. Who or what is to blame, when so much fodder is wasted ? No 

 animal will prize food after its cravings are appeased. Fowls, having 

 eaten, trample the superabundant barley under foot; dogs will sleep 

 beside, or bury, a half-gnawed bone ; nay, man himself, subsequent to a 

 good dinner, nauseates the greasy smell from the kitchen, and abhors 

 the sight of a reeking joint ; school-boys form bread seals out of their 

 breakfast superfluity; and domesticated gentlemen, located at th^ bot- 

 tom of the table, have, when dinner was finished, been frequently known 

 to amuse their fingers by making crumbs upon the cloth. Then the act 

 of wasting victuals, after satiety has been achieved, being, with various 

 beings, all but universal, the deed cannot be urged as a heavy accusation 

 against a simple animal. 



Yet the scattered hay having been observed by the master, the groom 

 then severely punishes the wasteful quadruped. In that case, however, 

 it is the master's observation, which the animal could not possibly pre- 

 vent, that drew down its chastisement ; the blows can establish no fault 

 on the part of the horse. Its stomach being crammed, the creature 

 could eat no more. The hay, however, was converted to some use. It 

 was made to lighten the heavy hours of captivity. Such a purpose may 

 not. have fulfilled the proprietor's intention; but it was the only service 

 the captive could put it to. The sin, if there be any sin, certainly must 

 remain with him who piled up provender before an animal which was 

 without an appetite. Waste was indulged when fodder was thus mis- 

 appropriated ; and the horse endured punishment from the hand of the 

 individual who, had strict justice been administered, should have received 

 the lashes on his own person. 



Simple natures, when entirely disengaged, generally make their own 

 employment, and that employment, being intended for a passing amuse- 

 ment, commonly consists of what thrifty people designate "mischief." 

 The knowledge that displeasure will follow upon discovery, may spice 

 the proceeding which otherwise might want interest. At all events, so 

 it is with children ; and it may be thus with animals. When a heaped 

 manger is before a satiated quadruped, the impossibility of feeding makes 

 'he creature meditate upon the uses to which the grain can possibly be 

 applied. None can be discovered. The head of the captive is tied, and 

 the manger is fixed. At length, in carelessness of spirit, a mouthful is 

 caken from the heap. The portion cannot be swallowed, so the lips are 



