104 HORSES: 



refusing to do what may improve the condition of 

 horses. Our duty ought to be discharged at all costs 

 and under all circumstances ; but a man must have 

 risen far above the average of his fellows if he feels 

 no relief when his duty coincides with his interest. 

 Something is gained by the mere pointing out of this 

 agreement, wherever it exists ; and we must remem- 

 ber that, if a vast amount of human wretchedness is 

 the direct result of willful and wanton perversity, we 

 can meet with no such resistance on the part of brute 

 beasts. With regard to these we have only to see 

 what the evils are ; and the blame is ours, and ours 

 alone, if we fail to apply the remedy, when the 

 remedy, if applied, must be successful. In the case 

 of the horse, unhappily, we do not realize the extent 

 of the mischief, and seldom, perhaps never, fix our 

 minds on its cause or causes. Yet the facts, even 

 when reduced within limits which none will venture 

 to dispute, are sufficiently startling. 



The number of horses in the United Kingdom has 

 been estimated at rather more than two millions 

 and a quarter, and their average value can scarce- 

 ly be set down at less than ^^30. Their collect- 

 ive value, therefore, falls little short of sixty-eight 

 million sterling. That the nation incurs a loss if this 

 sum is spent quicker than it needs to be is a self-evi- 

 dent proposition; that it is so spent is certain, if 

 horses on an average become useless at a time when 

 they ought still to be in full vigor. On this point 

 few will be disposed to challenge the verdict of Mr. 

 W. Douglas, late veterinary surgeon in the lOth 



