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19: 



pair of barouche-horses, the property of Mr. East, the great job-master of Mayfair, which 

 took a prize at the Agricultural Hall Horse Show in 1864, were both not far from twenty 

 years old. 



After unsoundness comes vice, which broadly means either " not quiet to ride or not quiet 

 to drive," or dangerous in the stable, or quiet in double and not in single harness, or vice 

 versa. Vice again is a matter of degree. A timid person would call that vice, perhaps justly, 

 which a bold horseman would treat as play. 



These preliminary observations bring us to the important question of warranty. No 



sensible person purchases an expensive horse by private contract without requiring a warranty, 

 either general or special, of soundness and freedom from vice. I should never think of depend- 

 ing on the warranty of a low-priced horse ; in fact, I should not ask for it, unless from a 

 seller whose word was to be depended on, because it will not pay to go to law for a small 

 sum of money. 



The first value of a warranty depends on the way it is expressed, and the next on the 

 solvency of the person who gives it. Professional horse-copers never hesitate to give the most 

 unlimited warranties, just as they also offer a week or a month's trial to the purchaser who 

 is foolish enough to part with his cheque without a veterinary examination. 



A warranty, to be of the greatest practical value, should be in writing, because, although 

 a verbal warranty is held good in law, it is extremely difficult to prove what has been said ; 

 therefore, a trial on a verbal warranty resolves itself into a contest of hard swearing. 

 Z 



