GROOMS. 333 



six feet eigbt inches broad by sixteen feet deep. The divisions are 

 similar to those alluded to in the previous chapter; but the first two 

 boxes must be passed through before the third can be reached. There 

 is no gangway, and the door opens into the first compartment, through 

 one box being the only passage to the others. This is inconvenient; 

 for it necessitates that when a quadruped has to be taken out, all the 

 horses between it and the entrance should be previously haltered and 

 fastened up to the farthest side, or to where the manger was originally 

 erected. 



The hay-loft, instead of being directly over the horses, is separated 

 from the animals by a stout wall. This arrangement obliges that the 

 provender should be fetched as it is wanted ; but it also provides that 

 the food shall not be contaminated before it is offered to the quadrupeds. 

 The vehicle is likewise removed from the possibility of soil; and the 

 coach-house contains a stove, of the kind called "slow-consuming." 

 Connected with this fire is a boiler, from which hot water pipes diverge. 

 Above the coach-house, the space is divided into hay-loft, etc. 



The annual cost of a coach-house and stable in the best parts of Lon- 

 don is thirty pounds. A house of the proposed dimensions, where the 

 rent is highest, would necessitate an annual outlay of fifteen pounds 

 extra. Such an amount might be easily saved from the present expendi- 

 ture, while the horses would be better lodged, and last the longer ; the 

 carriage would be better housed, and not require renovation so fre~ 

 quently ; the food would be kept sweeter, and not be as often wasted as 

 eaten; the servant would possess a healthy home; while the master 

 'could not but gain, by the better strength and amended feelings of his 

 dependents. 



But before such changes can be witnessed, gentlemen must have re- 

 leased their minds from the fetters of fashionable custom. The prevail- 

 ing folly, which insists that every groom shall be a stunted affectation, 

 is a stain upon the boasted enlightenment of the present period. It is 

 true, a light weight is essential in a jockey ; but men of station should 

 be above aping those necessities which the trainer laments being obliged 

 to obey. 



To ride, is the last qualification required in most grooms, and it is one 

 which few of the existing deformities can properly perform. The horses, 

 when exercised, should not be mounted, but should be led ; and height 

 is an advantage when this is being performed. The animals are like- 

 wise more readily dressed by a tall man ; for many a quadruped is ren- 

 dered restive by the mingled fuss and spite vented on their charges by 

 the modern diminutives. 



There is, however, one groom, whose weight should not much exceed 



