First Principles. 49 



not of any imposition practiced upon him, however 

 unreasonable these impositions may be. Consequently 

 he cannot come to any decision what he should or 

 should not do, because he has not the reasoning facul- 

 ties of man to argue the justice of the thing demanded 

 of him. If he had, taking into consideration his super- 

 ior strength, he would be useless to man as a servant. 

 Give him mind in proportion to his strength, and he 

 will demand of us the green field for his inheritance, 

 where he will roam at leisure, denying the right of 

 servitude at all. God has wisely formed his nature so 

 that it can be operated upon by the knowledge of man 

 according to the dictates of his will, and he might well 

 be termed an unconscious, submissive servant. This 

 truth we can see verified in every day's experience by 

 the abuses practiced upon him. Any one who chooses 

 to be so cruel, can mount the noble steed and run him 

 till he drops with fatigue, or, as is often the case with the 

 more spirited, falls dead beneath the rider. If he had 

 power to reason, would he not vault and pitch his 

 rider, rather than to suffer him to run him to death ? 

 Or would he condescend to carry at all the vain im- 

 postor, who, with but equal intellect, was trying to 

 impose on his equal rights and equally independent 

 spirit ? But, happily for us, he has no consciousness 

 of imposition, no thought of disobedience, except by 

 impulse caused by the violation of the law of his na- 

 ture : consequently, when disobedient, it is the fault 

 of man. 



Then we can but come to the conclusion that, if a 

 horse is not taken in a way at variance with the laws 



