422 



POINTS. 



recoiioile the eye to the general effect, where animals are small for the 

 machine to which they are harnessed. 



Of recent years there has been displayed a desire to infuse the East- 

 em blood into the heavier breed which is native to this country. The 

 desire was commendable ; but its gratification has led only to evil. It 

 has enabled the dregs of the race-course to be palmed off upon the pub- 

 lic. A thin and lanky offshoot of thorough-bred stock can be of no value. 

 These things should not be bought by gentlemen for any kind of service. 

 The time has come, when it is simple prudence that the public should 

 refuse longer to absorb the cast-offs of the stud farm. No doubt, before 

 the breeding of blood stock became a general practice, the infusion of 

 Eastern fire and activity was a national boon ; for a reference to engrav- 

 ings of a few years back exhibits the animal suited only for a plow used 

 as ladies' palfreys. The following copy from a figure, presented in the 

 famous folio work by a former Duke of Newcastle, will give the reader 

 some notion of the kind of horse once chosen to carry the fairest portion 

 of creation in the British isles. 



lADT, HAWKINO. 



From the above illustration, which may be well supposed to embody 

 the height of fashion and the cream of style shortly after the accession 

 of Charles the Second, the reader can imagine the practical knowledge 



