EVILS OF MODERN STABLES. 225 



been so sprained as never to have recovered its ^notions. Neckg have 

 never afterward been restored to their pristine grace of motion ; and, in 

 short, a valuable servant has, by such a misfortune, been so "wrenched 

 from its propriety," as to be rendered utterly useless. Nevertheless, the 

 groom will persevere in hailing the fate of an animal which has been 

 cast in the collar-rope &s a just punishment induced by the sufferer's 

 inveterate "vice." 



Carters are open to complaint, because their horses are " cast in the 

 halter," even to a greater degree than those of town grooms. In agricul- 

 tural districts, it is a common practice to turn the teams out to graze 

 during the night, and to take them from the field to work in the morn- 

 ing. Some animals, however, prove troublesome to catch, preferring the 

 cool grass and partial liberty to exhausting toil upon an arid roadway. 

 To facilitate the capture of such quadrupeds, many carters, when freeing 

 the creature, will not remove the halter, but suffer it to remain, because 

 this affords a ready hold for the person who fetches in the horses on the 

 following day. The result is easily anticipated. The ear itches. The 

 foot, scratching the part, gets entangled, and that which was a valuable 

 horse on the previous night, is found, in the dawning hght, to be a dis- 

 abled cripple, or a worthless carcass. 



The sane mind will, however, behold in this misfortune only a start- 

 ling proof of the folly which ties the head to a manger, and leaves the 

 animal at the hazard of a fearful accident. Such events have been com- 

 mon ever since the race was first domesticated; yet, to this day, the 

 custom is practiced. Where one quadruped enjoys a loose box, ten 

 thousand are confined to the manger. Neither loss nor the spectacle of 

 the misery produced by his folly seems able to instruct man where the 

 life of another is delivered over to his keeping. As, in America, the 

 master coerces and lashes his slave, so, in England, do proprietors starve, 

 torture, and slay the animals which all pretend to love. The devotion 

 of a life cannot even purchase those necessaries which are needful for 

 the preservation of health. Though the strength and the service are 

 contingent upon the maintenance of bodily vigor, man, with the capri- 

 ciousness of tyranny, is neglectful of that upon the continuance of which 

 the value of his possession entirely depends. 



It may be urged that the size of the horse's body necessarily Hmits 

 the dimensions of its abiding-place. This is a strange reason ; but it is 

 one commonly used among architects. We, however, do not apply the 

 principle to our own race. Because the Horse Guards are tall men, we 

 do not insist they should sleep in infants' cots, or wear the clothes of 

 children. Giants are not forced to inhabit the houses fit only for dwarfs. 

 Neither do we carry out the maxim with other creatures. Large rab- 



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