THE HORSE AND HIS EIDER. 41 



in one of their insurrections in 1809, took fifteen 

 Bavarian horses, and mounted them with fifteen of 

 their own men ; but in a skirmish with a squadron of 

 the same regiment, no sooner did these horses hear 

 the trumpet and recognise the uniform of their old 

 masters, than they set off at full gallop, and carried 

 their riders, in spite of all their efforts, into the 

 Bavarian ranks, where they were made prisoners. 

 But inveterate habits are contracted in peace as well 

 as in war, domi militMeque, a truth which was curiously 

 exemplified in a case that fell under our own observa- 

 tion. Some ladies of our acquaintance in Essex 

 bought a very respectable, middle aged, black-coated 

 horse, to draw their four-wheeled open chaise, driven 

 by their own fair hands. At first they were greatly 

 pleased with their bargain ; the horse was as strong 

 as an elephant, as gentle as a lamb, and as sedate as 

 a parish clerk. But he soon gave proof of very 

 ungenteel propensities. No sooner did a public 

 house come in view than he would rush up to the 

 door, in defiance of whip and rein, and persist in 

 remaining there a reasonable drinking time, thereby 

 exposing the reputation of his mistresses to very 

 shocking surmises. It afterwards came out that he 

 had learned these ways of a jolly old farmer in whose 

 possession he had been for some years. 



